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The Sears Appliance Repair Service is Offering a Coupon on the Website Good for 20% Service on all Sears and Kenmore ...

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 00:00 EST, 23 June 2012 | UPDATED: 09:51 EST, 23 June 2012

Barbie's Dream House, the Mall of America and Trump Tower have all earned the ire of a slew of architects that say the world would be better off without them.

In the most recent issue ofCalifornia Home + Design magazine, 25 'eye-searingly awful' buildings have been formally elected to be forgotten forever.

The list runs the gamut of modern monstrosities to futuristic fiascoes and no doubt answers the question for whom the wrecking ball tolls.

The Blob: Formerly known as The Experience Music Project, a museum celebrating popular music and science fiction, this building was designed by none other than the famed Frank Gehry. Guess that makes the EMP Museum in Seattle, Washington, his biggest mistake

Eyesore: Oakley Headquarters in Orange County, California, has some architects seeing red. 'Their Star Wars-esque headquarters, built as "a monument to the machine age, a building designed to honor invention," hasn't been cool since, well, ever'

Black and White and Bad All Over: 8500 Melrose Avenue, in Los Angeles, California, just might be Tinseltown's great tragedy. 'Maybe we would let the building stand as a monument to ugliness,' joked architect Rebecca Rudolph

Bored to Death: Both the AT&T Central Office in Houston, Texas, right, and the Ziggurat Building in West Sacramento, California, left, are the opposite of inspiring

Xana-don't: Even New Jersey Governor Chris Christie hates the Meadowlands Xanadu in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 'It's by far the ugliest damn building in New Jersey, and maybe America,' he said

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Are these America's ugliest buildings? Architects name structures they'd like to see leveled for the love of design

PHILADELPHIA Time was, and not all that long ago, that putting money into your house before putting it on the market paid off at resale.

But the "sluggish housing market continues to push down remodeling return on investment," Sal Alfano writes in the most recent cost-vs.-value report issued by Remodeling magazine, with the overall average cost-to-value ratio dropping to 57.7 percent from its peak in 2005 of 86.7 percent.

Even though the cost of remodeling has continued to fall, that's effectively counteracted by a drop in resale values, Alfano writes.

Bottom line: There is no guarantee that any improvement will boost the sale price of a house, especially in a real- estate market in which even multiple offers typically result only in an amount near or slightly above asking price.

Yes, doing the necessary improvements to a house will help it compete. If two houses are for sale on the same street for the same price and one has a new roof while the other needs one, it's not hard to figure out which might sell first. But "might" is the operative word in an era when little about the real-estate market is a certainty.

New roof or not, a house's list price must be appropriate for the market to attract buyers who likely will not only expect leak-free conditions but also a furnace and air conditioning that work properly.

Market observers say some sellers are still demanding prices well above what's appropriate, in an effort to turn their improvements into more cash. That, they say, is an attitude that keeps many listings sitting idle, some for a year or more.

Not to mention that it assumes the sellers' idea of improvement is in sync with the opinions of the buyers they wish to impress.

Harris Gross of Engineers for Home Inspection in Cherry Hill, N.J., gets to see the results of homeowners' misguided assumptions about what it will take to sell.

Assumption: Your house has just one bathroom, and you need at least another half-bath (also known as a powder room) for buyers to even consider you.

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Remodeling work less likely to boost home price

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PETER PEREIRA/The Standard-Times Jeff Martin of Stevens Home Improvement, installs new vinyl siding at a home in Fairhaven recently.

An increase in energy audit requests by local homeowners is not translating into a corresponding boost in energy-related home improvement jobs, say local contractors, a fact many find frustrating.

It's not that business is not good, said Steven Alves, owner of Stevens Home Improvement in Fairhaven. The past year has brought back some of his pre-recession busy-ness, Alves said, and allowed him to once again say no to jobs that are located too far away.

But he's still finding that jobs using energy efficient equipment are an afterthought for many homeowners.

"In our company, we push energy efficiency a lot. We're always talking about upgrading attic insulation or getting windows triple pane instead of double pane," said Alves. "But overall there hasn't been a big push. It's just sort of been let me fix up the house, I'm going to be staying here; we're not selling.'"

For example, Alves said, last week his company was finishing up a vinyl siding job that will also boost insulation for a Sconticut Neck home. But the insulation piece of the job came only after Stevens raised energy issues and offered the homeowner specific suggestions.

"It's not the primary reason (for the call); it's secondary," noted Alves. "It only happened when we asked, 'Do you realize you can also get vinyl siding insulated?'"

Carol Fisher, a builder/designer and owner of Center Caf in New Bedford's South End agreed with Alves. Fisher designed her eco-friendly caf using energy efficient products and believes strongly in the benefits of doing that.

Even so, she said, "I think contractors are still finding it hard to get traction around energy upgrades."

Link:
Green energy business is tepid, contractors say

Posted on June 24, 2012, Sunday

TIMELESS ELEGANCE: Easy mix and match laminated flooring creates unique personal style and will certainly stand the test of time.

KUCHING: AMHOME Sdn Bhd is holding a Raya promotion for home lovers to do a makeover on their homes for the festive celebration.

According to the person-in-charge Timothy Chai, among the popular features is the laminated flooring.

He said it has increasingly become the ideal flooring for many places include homes, offices, hotels and even commercial spaces.

It becomes irresistible when customers find its many advantages such as cigarette burn resistant, low formaldehyde emission, hygienic and environmental friendly, termite resistant, glue-free installation, impact resistant, wear resistant, fade resistant, stains resistant, not easily flammable, suitable for under-flooring heating with proper installation procedure and vacuum technology edge protection.

AMHOME offers a great variety of floorboards by Robina Flooring and its own range of AMHOME Flooring.

During the promotion period, until Hari Raya, customers will be able to enjoy discounts of 10 to 20 per cent.

Robina Flooring offers a 10-year warranty and AMHOME Flooring, 15-year warranty, subject to the terms and conditions.

Chai said the new series of AMHOME, the 8mm Real Wood Grain i-surface comes in three types: i-face, i-groove and i-born.

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Modern laminated flooring on promotion

War... War never changes.

Despite my colorful history with the Fire Emblem franchise, I never got around to playing Sacred Stones. Considering I started around the time Radiant Dawn came out on the Wii, Id heard for a while about how merciful the game was compared to other, more brutal Fire Emblem games, and I had missed the boat on getting it when it initially released. In addition, I had seen everything in Sacred Stones described as less memorable and of lower quality, be it the class system, the story, or what have you.

The first thing I noticed in Sacred Stones is an easy option, which supposedly spells out many of the game's mechanics, along with providing an easier overall difficulty. I decided to go straight into hard modenot because I'm good at Fire Emblem (I'm not at all), but because I wanted to see everything the game had to offer.

It's traditional Fire Emblem for the most parta strategy RPG with a fantasy-military setting and lots of plot surrounding the relationships of each and every character. The draw of Fire Emblem is that, in almost every entry in the series, when you lose a unit, they either die or are "wounded" and show up only in necessary plot points. There are hit points, random number generators for stat boosts between levels, and a neat rock-paper-scissors system involving axes, lances, and swords (i.e., lances>swords>axes>lances). But if you want to know more about Fire Emblem as a series, that's on you. This whole article is just about Sacred Stones.

Although the combat in Sacred Stones is the same stuff present in the other games, its easiness comes into play outside combat. You can enter shops at any time, so stockpiling weapons isn't an issue (as it was with Shadow Dragon, in some cases). Rather than keep the ability exclusive to missions and the occasional arena, Sacred Stones has two dedicated grinding areas you can visit without limit. For players invested in class promotion, these locations must be an absolute dream. In my opinion, the difficulty of Sacred Stones is determined by how much you use these places to level units up. Even so, I did notice fewer times in which I had to restart chapters than in other Fire Emblem games, and I usually play on the lowest difficulty.

Despite its lower level of difficulty, the game is still a load of fun, and I think story is actually much better than in many of the other Fire Emblem games. Because Sacred Stones is shorter than many of the newer Fire Emblems (with the exception Shadow Dragon, and possibly one more), there are fewer plot lines to deal with, and the main story is much shorter and easier to follow than in other games, especially if you're new to Fire Emblem or RPG storytelling. From beginning to end, it's fairly engaging, albeit a bit simplisticthere's war, attempted conquest, and an ancient evil. It sure is Fire Emblem.

If anything, my biggest issue with the title is that it doesn't introduce anything new. Much of the music and art is unmemorable (though with excellent animation, as per usual in Intelligent Systems games), and the mechanics and class layouts hold few surprises. It's just more Fire Emblem, with brisker pacing, more explanation, and additions intended to make the game less brutal for newcomers (I'm looking at you, Seth!).

It's not the worst Fire Emblem I've played (and in my book, the worst Fire Emblem was still a rather enjoyable experience), but it is certainly not one of the best either. If you haven't played Fire Emblem, this is likely the best place to start (something the excellent RFN RetroActive can attest to). If you have played a game or two in the series before, Sacred Stones is still worth experiencing despite its low difficulty, but at the end of the day, it's just more Fire Emblem.

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EXTRA LIFE: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

Copyright 2010. The Associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

JOPLIN, Mo. A casino that sits in the tri-state area of Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas is adding a seven-story hotel to its casino complex that officials say will boost the local economy by bringing in hundreds of jobs into the area.

Downstream Casino Resort, operated by the Quapaw Tribe, is building a hotel in the tri-state area. DRAWING PROVIDED

Downstream Casino Resort is planning to build a second hotel that will add 400 construction jobs and 40 casino-related employment jobs, said Sean Harrison, casino spokesman.

The expansion takes aim at raising the bar for destination resorts in this part of the country, Harrison said. The extravagant amenities are designed to add to the overall attraction of the casino so as to reach beyond its current 100-mile radius.

The casino and resort, operated by the Quapaw Tribe is located four miles west of Joplin, Mo., in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma with its parking lot located in Kansas and the main entrance located in Missouri.

With 2 million visitors a year to the casino, it quickly outgrew its current 222-room motel. The casino-resort employs more than 1,200 full-time workers and has a $42 million payroll, including benefits and tips.

We have a strong economic impact in this region, Harrison said referring to the tri-state area.

Harrison said the new $50 million hotel would be open in December and have 152 rooms, a spa and an indoor pool.

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Tri-state casino adding hotel, Oklahoma jobs

22-06-2012 21:09 AAA Auto Glass has proudly served the central valley for over 15 years. Our number one goals is that you are completely satisfied with our service. Call us today at 559-352-1347 and let us help you with your broken windshield, chip repair, or broken window.

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Windshield Replacement - Auto Glass in Tulare and Hanford - AAA Auto Glass - Video

CLEVELAND, Ohio Cuyahoga Community College's administration building appears marooned amid a sea of construction equipment and dirt at the corner of Carnegie Avenue and Ontario Street.

Just south of the brick building, hard-hatted workers are constructing an on-ramp and approach road to the new Inner Belt Bridge. To the west, a contractor is building a parking garage for Tri-C to replace spots taken by the Ohio Department of Transportation for the bridge. Nearby, ODOT is reconstructing the intersection of Ontario and Carnegie and relocating a freeway on-ramp.

"As a kid I loved to play with Tonka toys so I love this," said Peter MacEwan, vice president of facilities development and operations, as he looked out of the windows of his third-floor office as excavators and other heavy equipment moved dirt for the bridge project. MacEwan, an engineer who oversees all construction for the college, also is fascinated by the project itself.

But he still worries about future noise and vibration from traffic once the road is complete in 2013.

The college had baseline vibration measurements taken at the administration building, which has double-pane windows, before construction began. And the college will take more readings when the project is done, he said.

Tri-C officials had little recourse when ODOT said it had to realign the on-ramp from Carnegie Avenue at the east end of the building and widen the Interstate 90 lanes in the approach to the bridge. The state bought a quarter acre and is building a 25-foot tall retaining wall behind the building.

Tri-C lost 60 of its 127 parking spots and will spend $5 million to $6 million to build a four-story parking garage for 200 vehicles. It received $3.6 million from ODOT for the land, which included compensation for about $250,000 in lost parking revenue from events at nearby Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena, MacEwan said.

Tri-C built its administration building on Carnegie Avenue in 1973 as the central location for the school's downtown, Parma and Highland Hills campuses. But over the two decades following the opening, the neighborhood grew more crowded, primarily from the construction of Progressive Field and The Q. In 2001, as more space was needed, a third floor was added to the building. Parking was always a challenge.

The new garage, scheduled to open in January, will ease that problem. Until then, employees are parking a few blocks away in a lot rented from Peterson Nut.

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Cuyahoga Community College administration employees have front row view of Inner Belt Bridge construction

EAST GRAND RAPIDS, MI Dan and Jessica Molloy are still waiting for furniture in the living room of their new home on Maxwell Avenue SE.

But that gives the young couple time to savor the golden hardwood floors that stretch from the dining room on one side of the main floor to the sunroom that serves as Dans office on the other side.

We love hardwood floors, says Jessica. I love the living room even though it doesnt have any furniture. And this is the first time weve had a fireplace.

Its clear the Molloys are excited about their new home, which gives them more space than the Northeast Side bungalow where they lived for the first seven years of their marriage.

For example, there are little things like the half-bathroom next to the kitchen. This is actually a big deal for us, says Jennifer, noting their former home had just one bathroom.

The Molloys moved into the house with their dogs, Bailey and Stuart, in February -- soon after they began their house hunt after Christmas.

They found the house shortly after deciding to put their house on Aberdeen Street NE on the market.

We loved living on the Northeast Side, but we had kind of outgrown our house, says Dan.

After looking at several other larger homes on the Southeast Side, they fell in love with the 92-year-old two-story colonial they found while searching on the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors website.

With Realtor and friend Pete Bruinsma advising them as a buyers agent, they discovered there was a pending offer on the house. They had two days to put together an offer or risk losing the house.

See more here:
West Michigan homebuying story: How couple joined 'the East Grand Rapids shuffle'