An exercise in frustration and being abused by their "service" people.
351583
Purchased at Costco, thank goodness because it needed returning. Would have wild temperature swings, like 80 degrees or more. I called traegers awful customer service more than five different times and was treated to multiple rude people, who called me a liar. I was given multiple excuses and they told me the grill was supposed to operate like that, and was told that after watching the digital temp for twenty minutes, that really wasn't a long time. Have you ever sat and watched a temp gauge for twenty minutes? Mind numbingly boring.
Then they had me go through the process of timing the auger, which, if you don't have a mirror, means laying on your back, and waiting for the auger fan to turn on and off. Tried a different p setting, which just made the temp fluctuations worse. The "set it and forget it" mantra of digital temperature control quickly became a frustrating joke.
The trageger rep then tried to blame their own pellets for the problems, which I bought from a traeger rep. They sent me a new bag of pellets, which were oak, instead of apple which is what they said they would ship immediately. Took two weeks.

In the meanwhile, I tried to smoke pork butt overnight, and after establishing a temperature around two hundred degrees for two hours, I thought things were going well. Went to bed and got up the next morning to a smoker full of 80degree meat. The igniter went out sometime overnight and there was a huge pile of unburned pellets. Time to throw out sixty dollars worth of meat.

This thing was the biggest disappointment I can recall, and their customer service were total jerks.

Maybe I got a lemon, but given how they treated me, I wouldn't risk dealing with them.

Oh, and the drip tray and several other locations on the grill was rusting after only two weeks.

I don't know what they were like when they were made in the us, but now that they are made in China, seems they just want to sell volumes, not quality.
1791237
The documentary was very well done, but the subject was disgusting. Not only did this family whine almost continuously about their perceived lack of money (while still being very wealthy),but they treated their employees abysmally. I cried when I heard their nanny say that she had not seen her  son since he was very young, but now he was an adult. Here were these selfish people (the Siegels) building a ridiculously large mansion--with expensive and elaborate furnishings in storage awaiting the completion of the building--and it never once occurred to them that this woman might like to see her own family? With all the millions they spent on themselves, they never considered gifting her with a trip to see her family, or to bring them for a visit? The depth of callousness is astounding. Then there are the children who are too lazy to take care of their animals (and why isn't the SPCA involved?), but neglect them to the point of death for some of the poor creatures. At one point, the mother tells her children that they need to find a loose snake because it might eat the puppies! Thankfully, the puppies are found. And the way they talk about each other, with so much disdain and lack of respect--this is a very unhappy family. Still, they are unhappy because of their own actions. Unfortunately, their actions make others unhappy, too, such as their employees and animals. I hope seeing themselves like this will motivate them to change, but that's not likely. It's difficult to rate this because the people are so awful, but the people who made the documentary did do a good job of showing what kind of people the Siegels are. I hope the nanny will get a better job, with better employers, and I hope the Siegels don't get any more animals.
1575099
The four adults in this book angered me because they are so self indulgent in their own pathos that Collie and Bing never had a chance.  Maybe Uncle Tom brings some redemption to himself in the last couple chapters but only maybe. At least Falcon funds the whole escapade.  The characters are very stereotypical in their behaviors and actions. Even Collie is the "poor little rich boy" who gets into every type of trouble possible on an international scale. And although there are a few poignant lines in the book, such as when Collies says,"... I wasn't going to want her to love me anymore.", I found the author ready just to close down a segment and transition to another with simple dismissive statements and transitional phrases.  As the fly leaf says, this book "takes us into the perversely charmed world" but I would change the word charmed to schizophrenic and the chaos is not an "exhilaratingly constant" but a near death experience.
2496063
There are certainly many issues facing those who are trying to climb up from low paying and/or minimum wage jobs.  However, this author's attitude that all those in this position are helpless victims doomed to lifelong poverty is ridiculous!  As is the idea that anyone NOT mired in a tedious, low-paying job is somehow bad and to be blamed for those who are.  She identifies with the poor almost pathologically without fair consideration to all involved, including the employers.  And I found that very strange considering she is a well paid, successful writer living in a very high-rent area of this country (Key West, Florida) in her everyday life!

She herself enjoys all the benefits of the upper middle class lifestyle, and more power to her for earning them, yet, she rails relentlessly about others in this position and blames them for the plight of the working poor.  When she works as a maid for a cleaning service, she comments about how insulted she is by one of the home-owners choice of books!  Huh?  She is angered that another home-owner has the audacity to own a set of copper pots and other home furnishings and decor that she finds disdainful as if these people are somehow at fault for being successful and having purchasing power, and heaven forbid, opinions and tastes that she does not share.  She makes it clear that she herself does not regularly employee domestic help as that would just be, well, disdainful, yet, she admits to having done so on certain justifiable occasions.  Really Barbara, you can't have it both ways!!

When an immigrant dishwasher at a restaurant where she works is caught red-handed stealing from the storehouse, she immediately identifies with the thief and becomes defensive of him.  So stealing is OK if you're working for minimum wage?  Would she have been so protective of the thief if he'd stolen say HER laptop or HER car or HER food?  I wonder.

And did anyone notice that on two different occasions, regarding two of her jobs, the author brought up the widely held (and grossly misguided) concept that employers "hold back" the new employees first week of pay?  As a human resources professional, I've battled this misconception amongst both white and blue collar employees for years and find it unfathomable that a person with a Ph. D. does not get it that the time she works this week is not actually paid for until the following pay period, usually the next week.  There is no "holding back" of any pay, merely a lapse in time in which payroll processing takes place and a check printed.  I found it incredible that this author did not grasp the logistics of this simple concept, and instead, clung to the ignorant idea that an employer would actually "hold back" pay until some such future date at their self-declared discretion, a practice that would be in fact, illegal.

Where is the balance in this so-called reporting?  It's all and only about one side of the picture.  And where are the suggestions? solutions? ideas for a better system?  The concept of this book has great potential, but sadly, it falls flat and short of meeting it.
3528987
Interesting what people will do to bring down others.
675969
I spoke with amazon customer service already and they rectified the issue. However I want it known that this is a horrible service provider. They were here for an hour and half on a 7 hour deep clean. They also broke my blind which he apologized for but still broken. He didn't take out any trash. The floors were still disgusting and messy with obvious dirt on them. I mentioned it and he tried to wipe up the one section but tried to say because i have some spots on the floor that everything else must just be perminent. He didn't dust all of the rooms and the things in them. Lots of my stuff is still dusty. He didn't put anything back the way it was when he found it so I had to go around putting all the blinds back down, window drapes back, my kitchen back together, take the garbages out, lay back out by rugs that were moved. He didn't have a mop or a vacuum. The toilet was still dirty and the tub wasn't cleaned well.  All in all I ended up with more of a mess to clean up after he left and had to redo his job after him. Very disappointing since I was really looking forward to my deep spring cleaning. I understand maybe you don't need a full 7 hours but 1 hour and 45 minutes is ridiculous. Especially since he didn't even do a good job. He was very kind though and nice. I felt bad but I feel like people should know what they are really paying for. He was on time also.
3523929
A happy ending for some ... but not for others. Innocence is cruelly punished, and guilt dances away free - all because people in this village (which should be named "Catatonia") can't bring themselves to speak ... about anything. When people lie to themselves it's not a happy picture: no matter if it's a scenic part of Wales, in what (I suppose) is offered up as a happy, innocent past. In the end, I think this book will just tend to make you angry.
4622802
How in the world can stuff like this go on and unpunished. Those disgusting people  make me sick. Thank God for families who can take in these tortured babies and begin to heal them, bless you and the babies who enter your lives.
121637
This sign is nice if you can get the people who deliver your packages to do what it says. NOT  Boy they get paid alot with good benefits but, about half do their jobs. Makes me so, upset. I am disabled so, walking down hill to get deliveries is real hard for me. Thought perhaps this sign would help. Nope
4119326
dudes, this freakin idiot tears down every good thing about our society and replaces it with waht?  more sh**.  worse sh**.  there's only one way to deal with people like this -- tie their eyelids open so they have to watch endless h ours of their own tedious sh**.  after that, maybe they will come to a profound understanding of  how irrelevant they are, and maybe become, like, loggers.  i'm out.  j.
3255008
Warning, this book contains people abuse and a little animal abuse. You might think that it goes with the period of time but it's more than that. It shows that there are truly mean people out there. A couple of issues were not followed up and that was very disappointing. And could have used grammar check. But overall it had me feeling strong anger and sorrow.
2801708
This game is completely aggravating. The characters do not do what you want, especially if they are miserable, which is usually all the time. They let you know this by waving at the camera. It is difficult to keep all of their needs met expecially when they have to go to the bathroom, take a shower or eat every five minutes. It takes them so long to complete a task that it is time to go to bed. It is hard to maintain relationships, especially when you have to go to the bathroom or take a shower or eat every five minutes. They do not know enough to move objects out of the way. they will not do what you command if something or someone is blocking them. The neighbors come in uninvited eat uninvited and are impossible to get to leave. It is impossible to operate all of the characters and make them happy. You get one happy, another one is miserable, has to go to the bathroom ar take a shower. Once they go to the bathroom someone else has to go to the bathroom or go to bed. With more than one character I am contantly having my characters go to the bathroom or take a shower, there is no time to do anything else. There is also the problem with the clown. If your characters are unhappy he shows up and will not leave. Plus they have more problems using the stove. The stove constantly catches on fire.
1525255
SO MANY KIDS ARE ABUSED NOW A DAYS IT SEEMS PEOPLE GET OVERWHELMED AND TAKE IT OUT ON THE ONE WHO CAN'T FIGHT BACK.SAD TO SAY SOME KIDS ONLY GET PEACE WHEN THE UGLY PERSONS GO TO FAR. TOO MANY KIDS DIE IN T HIS KIND OF SITUATION.
2147721
This book is absolutely infuriating. The ordeal Linda Case was forced to endure is nothing short of a disgustingly gross miscarriage of justice. Her situation was a classic case of law enforcement having their ego severely bruised when they were outsmarted and evaded by a criminal - the fact that criminal was a middle-aged woman enraged them even further - so they took out their frustration and fury on a 66-year-old grandmother who didn't have so much as a parking ticket on her record. Case was tossed in a jail cell, in part, to appease the irritation a bitter judge, a US Marshal and others had for her fugitive sister, and also as a tactic in hopes that her ridiculous and unjustified mistreatment would coax her sister out of hiding. Case was nothing more than a pawn that was manipulated and moved around on a chess board by several individuals we as a society have entrusted to fairly enforce and carry out our laws but who are nothing more than smug abusers of their power. Sadly, stories like Case's play out daily across our nation and it's high-time the American people put their foot down and demand law enforcement and prison reform.
1151735
Bixle has an arrogant staff they do not make themselves available to questions, and when they do, the tone is not friendly.  Product is okay but the service is not at all.
1751181
The word talent is terribly abused here.  What a pile of masturbatory crap!  Seriously - these people don't even care about themselves and thew show it constantly.  Does anyone need the burden of this family who should be caged?  They are self-loathing and they live in an endless circle of recrimination about their half-lived lives.  And still - where would they go and who would have them.  The 'extras' where they give themselves credit for bravely cobbling their psychoses into a script is just the capper that made me fully detest this film.
846415
The book raises the frustration level about the system not being equal for all, and about the disparity in 'justice'. Like Grisham's book on the injustice to a young baseball player in Ada Oklahoma and the corrupt and broken system of justice in the US, the book frustrates and angers because of the prosecution's need to win at any cost, and the lack of integrity in the legal community, all the way through the judges. The author brings light to those who never experience our system of criminal and civil justice. If you believe in JUSTICE, you also believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
A good frustrating read, recommended for all to get a look at our legal and court system. Thank God for the lawyers with integrity, and the generosity to work pro bono, for those who need help and cannot pay for it. Thanks too to Barry Scheck and the Innocence Project.