Like a lot of people, I was snowed in when I woke up Saturday morning to what the neighborhood kids thought was a Winter Wonderland.

My regular snow removal expert was no where to be found so I went looking for a replacement plower. I must have spend an hour on the phone talking to what seemed like a legion of drivers who'd been up all night digging other people out.

Now I don't want to plug Angie's List too much, but to a man (and yes, they were all men, and I called only highly rated snow removal experts from the List) they were all polite and tried really hard to be helpful. One guy who I called said he couldn't get to me, but he recommended another guy closer. So I called that guy.

"Well, I've got my daughter's wedding at 1 o'clock, but I could probably be to your house by 5," said Bill Clem of Imaging Contracting.

It was tempting, but fathers are needed at daughters' weddings. So I made another call.

Andy from Northside Landscape Supply had his daughter's 13th birthday lunch at Benihana.  "But I can come right after," he said.

Andy got the job, and he did a great job, too.  Much as I appreciated Bill's willingness, I thought his daughter deserved to have his company more than I did. "I keep telling her the snow pays for the wedding," he said.

All I can say is both those daughters are pretty lucky if their fathers are as good at being dads as they are at customer service.

My family and I got out of the house just fine.  And when the snow hits again tonight, it's going to be a tough call for me to choose between these really dedicated snow removal pros.

We spend a lot of time here at Angie’s List researching home improvement issues and talking to service pros so we can pass on their advice to our members and consumers in general. Most of the time it’s a great way to learn about some home repair you may face in the future. Other times, the timing is just a little bit freaky.

Last week, for instance, we were working on a piece about garage door maintenance. It’s one of those things you don’t really think about until the door won’t open or shut, but it’s really one of the most dangerous things on your property. They weigh hundreds of pounds and because they’re used so often, they wear out. But most of us don’t think about having an annual inspection: we take care of it when something goes wrong.

One of our service pros gave us some really graphic information – incidents that involved blood and lost fingers – and I complained to one of my colleagues that we probably didn’t really need to go that far when we put together our tips and consumer information.

So I go home for the weekend and what happens? My garage door stopped working. All I could think of was making sure no one lost his or her fingers as we tried to figure out if the problem was fixable ourselves or it was a major problem. The more we talked about it and looked at it, the more I thought about those fingers.

I’m checking the List for help this week.

Last week I had the privilege of being part of a group that was asked to comment to the White House about how the federal government could improve its customer service.  I didn’t see this as a political opportunity, but instead an opportunity to take the lessons we’ve learned over the last 15 years about customer service and share those with the government.

Besides, when you get a call from the White House, it’s hard to say no to at least offering up your two-cents.  And let’s face it, we’d all be better off if government services were delivered as efficiently as possible.

I’m not saying the comments we gave will be a cure-all, but it’s nice to have even a tiny part in trying to help.

My group focused on improving customer service. The short version of our message was to recommend that the government do a better job of listening to its customers and helping them interact with them in whatever way works best for them. 

While it really was something for a girl from Fort Wayne to be sitting just feet away from the President of the United States and listening to him say that he thought that I (and the rest of my business colleagues) could help the nation, it wasn’t the only high point of the trip for me.

Like most kids do, I looked up to my father a lot (still do, actually) when I was growing up.  He was a driver for the United Parcel Service. My second exciting moment in DC? I got to meet the CEO of UPS, Scott Davis!  Like me, he’d been asked to attend the White House Forum on Modernization. We weren’t in the same breakout group, but he was very nice and even smiled when I told him that my dad used to work for his company.

The folks in DC have said they’ll be asking us to share more about what works in the private sector and could work for government. If you have ideas, feel free to share them.

Here’s an issue that we’d like to see disappear: the push to gag patients from talking online about the quality of service they receive from their doctors.

We were really encouraged recently to learn about an action taken in the last several weeks by the Office of Civil Rights for the federal department of Health and Human Services. That office enforces the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA.) A few weeks ago, it forced a doctors’ practice to stop requiring patients to sign waivers in exchange for privacy protections already mandated under the law. While that was a really narrow ruling, we’re hoping it’s a message to the medical community who think gag orders are a good thing.

We’ve been collecting health care reports from members for two years now and it’s been a great experience. We’ve heard from a lot of physicians who agree that they can learn how to better serve their patients from them. We’ve even interceded to help one of our members who was being unfairly charged for a service she didn’t receive.

So thanks for any reporting you’ve done already. Please keep it up, and don’t hesitate to ask your doctor what position he or she is taking on the medical gag order issue.

More than 90 percent of Angie’s List members responding to a New Year’s Eve week survey plan to invest in improving their home in 2010. Some are planning major work and some are planning to update their homes in preparation for sale.

I’m really encouraged by these survey results because 2009 was a rocky year for a lot of people. But our members see the value in maintaining their homes, which are for most of us our biggest asset.

So here’s to a great and productive 2010 – if you’re among those planning projects, don’t forget to do your research, and please take the time to check your local trade licensing laws and hire providers who follow them. You’ll be better off in the end.

If you need a reminder, be sure to watch for your Angie’s List magazine or to check the magazine site to find out the best and worst contractors of 2009 – it’s always a startling read….

Oh, the details from our member survey! We allowed members to opt for more than one project, and a lot of folks are planning multiple projects:

• 57 percent plan to focus on improving the interior of their homes.
• 40 percent plan to focus on improving the landscaping/yard of their homes.
• 35 percent are going to do more routine maintenance.
• 25 percent are going to tackle larger projects.
• 23 percent are going to focus on the exterior of the home.
• 13 percent are going to prepare their home for sale.
•   7 percent have no plans.
•   5 percent have other plans not listed.