How Angie's List Helped with My Renovations

I think this is a good, although frustrating, learning experience for me, because I am being introduced to many new forms of communicating. My computer use has been much more limited. Obviously I use it at work a lot, but my personal use has been more limited to purchasing items from websites, often Amazon.com, but some others as well. It has been great for buying wedding presents from registries and for buying tea leaves that I can't get around here. Most recently, I signed up for and used Angie's List. For any who may not know, Angie's List is a resource to help members locate home improvement professionals in many different fields. They can be limited to your locale. The entries are made by other members. I found an excellent plumber (Cobra Plumbing in Abingdon) recommended there, and I had granite countertops installed by a local dealer, JPS Marble & Tile, that I never would have found otherwise, even though it's right in Forest Hill. Other people I ended up going with were recommended through word of mouth. The painter I'm using now was recommended by the plumber, for example. And the flooring person I chose was used by a neighbor. Oh well, I'm off the subject and back onto the topic of renovations, which has thoroughly occupied me for the past three months.
As a reality programming junkie, I have also occasionally dabbled in on-line discussion groups when I was especially interested in who I thought should win. It's fun to read what others have to say about the people on the shows, although I never contributed myself. I was lurking on the sidelines.
Ultimately though, it is amazing to see how much time people must devote to life on the web. To see what people have done in Flickr mashups alone is astounding. Maybe some of these people don't need much sleep?