1. To remove the salt deposits that form on clay pots, combine equal parts white vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water in a spray bottle. Apply the mixture to the pot and scrub with a plastic brush. Let the pot dry before you plant anything in it.

2. To prevent accumulating dirt under your fingernails while you work in the garden, draw your fingernails across a bar of soap and you’ll effectively seal the undersides of your nails so dirt can’t collect beneath them. Then, after you’ve finished in the garden, use a nailbrush to remove the soap and your nails will be sparkling clean.

3. To prevent the line on your string trimmer from jamming or breaking, treat with a spray vegetable oil before installing it in the trimmer.

4. Turn a long-handled tool into a measuring stick! Lay a long-handled garden tool on the ground, and next to it place a tape measure. Using a permanent marker, write inch and foot marks on the handle. When you need to space plants a certain distance apart (from just an inch to several feet) you’ll already have a measuring device in your hand.

5. To have garden twine handy when you need it, just stick a ball of twine in a small clay pot, pull the end of the twine through the drainage hole, and set the pot upside down in the garden. Do that, and you’ll never go looking for twine again.

6. Little clay pots make great cloches for protecting young plants from sudden, overnight frosts and freezes.

7. To turn a clay pot into a hose guide, just stab a roughly one-foot length of steel reinforcing bar into the ground at the corner of a bed and slip two clay pots over it: one facing down, the other facing up. The guides will prevent damage to your plants as you drag the hose along the bed.

8. To create perfectly natural markers, write the names of plants (using a permanent marker) on the flat faces of stones of various sizes and place them at or near the base of your plants.

9. Got aphids? You can control them with a strong blast of water from the hose or with insecticidal soap. But here’s another suggestion, one that’s a lot more fun; get some tape! Wrap a wide strip of tape around your hand, sticky side out, and pat the leaves of plants infested with aphids. Concentrate on the undersides of leaves, because that’s where the little buggers like to hide.

10. The next time you boil or steam vegetables, don’t pour the water down the drain, use it to water potted patio plants, and you’ll be amazed at how the plants respond to the “vegetable soup.”

11. Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify the soil of acid-loving plants such as azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, gardenias and even blueberries. A light sprinkling of about one-quarter of an inch applied once a month will keep the pH of the soil on the acidic side.

12. Use chamomile tea to control damping-off fungus, which often attacks young seedlings quite suddenly. Just add a spot of tea to the soil around the base of seedlings once a week or use it as a foliage spray.

13. If you need an instant table for tea service, look no farther than your collection of clay pots and saucers. Just flip a good-sized pot over, and top it off with a large saucer. And when you’ve had your share of tea, fill the saucer with water, and your “table” is now a birdbath.

14. The quickest way in the world to dry herbs: just lay a sheet of newspaper on the seat of your car, arrange the herbs in a single layer, then roll up the windows and close the doors. Your herbs will be quickly dried to perfection. What’s more, your car will smell great.

Article reprinted in part from DIY website

Spring cleaning is a rite of passage for many households – out with the old and in with the new.  We go through our closets, switching out the winter clothes for the summer clothes. We move the snow-blower to the back of the garage and get the lawnmower ready for that first blade of grass. We throw open the windows and let the fresh spring air blow out all the cobwebs of winter.

Yet, there’s one part of our house we don’t always remember to clean – our computers. Sure, we might move the keyboard to dust underneath but there’s so much more we can do to clean our computers properly.

Cleaning out your browser history, organizing files into folders and deleting old/unused files is important to the computer for many reasons like security and performance.  However, there are a number of simple things you can do to physically clean the computer that can also help it to run at top performance.

Here are some easy tips for cleaning your computer.

Clean and disinfect your keyboard and mouse:

Computer keyboards and mouse can get pretty filthy from just normal use, not to mention from eating at our desks or working while we’re sick.  Make sure you’ve disconnected the hardware from the main computer before cleaning.

• Products such as canned air or micro-detail vacuums will help to get the crumbs and dust out of your keyboard.
• Keyboard and mouse surfaces can be wiped down with sanitizer* on a lint-free or microfiber cloth. This will help wipe away fingerprints and germs from your keyboard and mouse surfaces.
• If your mouse has a track ball, turn it over and rub the track ball back and forth on a clean, white piece of paper. If your mouse uses a laser, be very careful and clean this area with a dry lint cloth only. Don’t use any cleaners, as they may damage the sensitivity of the laser.

*It is extremely important when cleaning with liquid cleansers to use as little moisture as possible.

Clean your computer LCD display:

Finger-prints and dust can make it hard to see and can diminish the efficiency of a touch-screen. Because monitors are made out of various materials it is important to follow the manufacturers instructions before using any cleaning products on your screen.

• Always use a lint-free or microfiber cloth.
• Never use a spray aerosol cleaner directly on the hardware or screen.
• Microfiber cloths work great to remove most dirt, dust and fingerprints without the need for liquid cleanser.

Clean the inside of your computer:

Over time, dust buildup inside your computer could undermine its cooling efficiency, resulting in shorter life spans for your computer’s components. *

• Use a micro-detail vacuum or canned air to remove dust from fan vents. (Never use a vacuum on a computer that hasn’t been turned off!)
• Carefully remove the CPU cover and blow canned air around the circuit boards inside the CPU.
• When using canned air try to blow debris away from components, circuitry and cracks.

* Always safely turn off the computer before cleaning or removing the cover.

For more information and tips please visit CNET PC Cleaning Tips or How Stuff Works Mac Cleaning Tips

Here’s a worry-by-worry guide to some innovations that can make all the difference if you’re concerned about your live-alone parents’ safety or just their day-to-day ease of living.

YOUR WORRY:       My parents won’t be able to reach me in an emergency.

TECH SOLUTION:   Big-button cell phone.
According to the Pew Research Center, many seniors won’t use a cell phone even in an emergency. They find them too complex, can’t manage the tiny buttons, or can’t read the screens. A big-button cell phone could give you and your parents peace of mind.

YOUR WORRY:       My parents will zone out, let the shower get too hot, and get burned.

TECH SOLUTION:   Temperature-activated flow reducer.
It’s relatively low-tech, but this gadget sure does work. A screw-on faucet attachment prevents burns by shutting off the water from a sink or shower if it gets too hot.

YOUR WORRY:       My parents won’t remember to take their medications — or they’ll take the wrong ones.

TECH SOLUTION:   Automatic pill reminders.
By the time a person reaches age 70 they are probably taking about 12 medications. The inability to take them unsupervised accounts for up to 40 percent of nursing home admissions. Fortunately, many devices available now can remind your parents to take their pills and keep them from getting their prescriptions scrambled. These range from pillboxes with alarms and timers to services that will send your parents medication reminders by phone, e-mail, or pager.

YOUR WORRY: My parents will burn themselves cooking, or leave the stove on and start a fire.

TECH SOLUTION: The Safe-T-element Cooking System. This device consists of cover plates you can install over existing stovetop burners that limit how hot they can get and automatically shut off the stove if they reach a certain temperature.

YOUR WORRY:       My parents will fall and won’t be able to get up.

TECH SOLUTION:   Personal Emergency Response System (PERS).
These home devices connect your parents to a 24-hour call center with a push of the button. The transmitter can be worn on a neck pendant or bracelet and sends a signal to the call center via a receiver connected to your parents’ home phone line. Your parent can push the button after a fall or any kind of emergency and the call center will contact you or emergency personnel as appropriate.

YOUR WORRY:       My hard-of-hearing parents will miss phone calls or leave visitors standing outside the door.

TECH SOLUTION:   Doorbell-telephone flashing-light signaler.
If your parents are getting hard of hearing, a device that enables a ringing doorbell or phone to trigger a flashing light — including existing house lamps and special strobes for rooms where lamps aren’t generally used — lets them know when they have a call or visitors have arrived.

YOUR WORRY:       I can’t be there all the time — how will I know my parents are OK?

TECH SOLUTION:   Monitoring systems. A number of high-tech monitoring systems on the market now do what you can’t: watch over your parents to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary is happening — and report in to you, your computer, or a dispatcher when something does (for example, one of your parents goes into the bathroom and still hasn’t come out an hour later).  Obviously, to avoid having your parents see you as Big Brother, you’ll need to discuss the idea and make sure they’re OK with it before buying.

Article re-printed in part from Care.com

Regardless of your driving skill or vehicle preparation, there are some winter conditions that can’t be conquered. But the following tips may help prevent snowy and icy roads from ruining your day.

1. Get a grip. To have adequate snow traction, a tire requires at least 6/32-inch deep tread, according to The Tire Rack. (New passenger-car tires usually have 10/32-inch of tread.) Ultrahigh-performance “summer” tires have little or no grip in snow. Even “all-season” tires don’t necessarily have great snow traction: Some do, some don’t. If you live where the roads are regularly covered with snow, use snow tires (sometimes called “winter tires” by tiremakers). They have a “snowflake on the mountain” symbol on the sidewall, meaning they meet a tire-industry standard for snow traction.
2. Make sure you can see. Replace windshield wiper blades. Clean the inside of your windows thoroughly. Apply a water-shedding material (such as Rain-X) to the outside of all windows, including the mirrors. Make sure your windshield washer system works and is full of an anti-icing fluid. Drain older fluid by running the washers until new fluid appears: Switching fluid colors makes this easy.
3. Run the air-conditioner. In order to remove condensation and frost from the interior of windows, engage your air-conditioner and select the fresh air option: It’s fine to set the temperature on “hot.” Many cars automatically do this when you choose the defrost setting.
4. Check your lights. Use your headlights so that others will see you and, we hope, not pull out in front of you. Make sure your headlights and taillights are clear of snow. If you have an older car with sand-pitted headlights, get a new set of lenses. To prevent future pitting, cover the new lens with a clear tape like that used to protect the leading edge of helicopter rotor blades and racecar wings. It’s available from auto-racing supply sites.
5. Give yourself a brake.Learn how to get maximum efficiency from your brakes before an emergency. It’s easy to properly use antilock brakes: Stomp, stay and steer. Stomp on the pedal as if you were trying to snap it off. Stay hard on the pedal. Steer around the obstacle. (A warning: A little bit of steering goes a very long way in an emergency. See Tip 8.) If you drive on icy roads or roads that are covered with snow, modify your ABS technique: After you “Stomp” and the ABS begins cycling — you will feel pulses in the pedal or hear the system working — ease up slightly on the pedal until the pulsing happens only once a second.For vehicles without ABS, you’ll have to rely on the old-fashioned system: You. For non-ABS on a mixed-surface road, push the brake pedal hard until the wheels stop rolling, then immediately release the brake enough to allow the wheels to begin turning again. Repeat this sequence rapidly. This is not the same as “pumping the brake.” Your goal is to have the tires producing maximum grip regardless of whether the surface is snow, ice or damp pavement.
6. Watch carefully for “black ice.” If the road looks slick, it probably is. This is especially true with one of winter’s worst hazards: “black ice.” Also called “glare ice,” this is nearly transparent ice that often looks like a harmless puddle or is overlooked entirely. Test the traction with a smooth brake application or slight turn of the wheel.
7. Remember the tough spots. Race drivers must memorize the nuances of every track, so they can alter their path for changing track conditions. You must remember where icy roads tend to occur. Bridges and intersections are common places. Also: wherever water runs across the road. I know people who lost control on ice caused by homeowners draining above-ground pools and by an automatic lawn sprinkler that sprayed water onto a street in freezing temperatures.
8. Too much steering is bad. If a slick section in a turn causes your front tires to lose grip, the common — but incorrect — reaction is to continue turning the steering wheel. That’s like writing checks on an overdrawn account: It won’t improve the situation and may make things worse. If the icy conditions end and the front tires regain grip, your car will dart whichever way the wheels are pointed. That may be into oncoming traffic or a telephone pole. Something very similar happens if you steer too much while braking with ABS. Sadly, there are situations where nothing will prevent a crash, but turning the steering too much never helps.
9. Avoid rear-tire slides. First, choose a car with electronic stability control. Fortunately, ESC will be mandatory on all 2012 models. Next, make sure your rear tires have at least as much tread as your front tires. Finally, if you buy winter tires, get four.
10. Technology offers no miracles. All-wheel drive and electronic stability control can get you into trouble by offering a false sense of security. AWD can only help a vehicle accelerate or keep moving: It can’t help you go around a snow-covered turn, much less stop at an icy intersection. ESC can prevent a spinout, but it can’t clear ice from the roads or give your tires more traction. Don’t let these lull you into overestimating the available traction.

Reprinted in part from Edmonds website

Being prepared for severe weather is your best defense in preparing your home against winter weather issues.  Here’s a checklist to understand your preparedness.

Self Assessment:

• If you use an alternate heating source, such as a pellet or wood burning stove, is it properly installed and separated from flammable surfaces?
• Does your roof tend to build up ice dams at the eaves?
• How can I estimate when my snow loads are getting to dangerous levels and what can I do about it?
• How can I prevent frozen pipes?
• How can I prevent water from leaking into my house from snow accumulation?

These questions are explained and answered on the Institute for Business and Home Safety.  The website includes helpful tips and suggestions in prevention of winter weather issues.

Reprinted in part from theIBHS website

Below are tips to help make the festivities fun and safe for trick-or-treaters and party guests.

Expecting trick-or-treaters or party guests?

• Provide healthier treats for trick-or-treaters such as low-calorie treats and drinks. For party guests, offer a variety of fruits, vegetables, and cheeses.
• Be sure walking areas and stairs are well-lit and free of obstacles that could result in falls.
• Keep candle-lit jack-o’lanterns and luminaries away from doorsteps, walkways, landings, and curtains. Place them on sturdy tables, keep them out of the reach of pets and small children, and never leave them unattended.

Going trick-or-treating? Be SAFE!

Follow these tips and find other great tips at CDC website to help make the festivities fun and safe for everyone!

Look through your policies to see what is – and isn’t – covered. The coverages and exclusions in your insurance policies can differ significantly from those of your friends. The best advice is to understand your policies before you have a claim.

Your homeowners policy provides insurance coverage for each of these situations and many more because it is a “package” of insurance for (1) your house, furniture and personal belongings, (2) your liability to others and (3) additional living expenses you may incur if your home is severely damaged.

Ask your insurance agent or company representative to explain anything you don’t understand.

Before You Have A Claim be sure you know the answers to these questions before you have to file a claim:

• Is your home insured for at least 80 percent of its replacement value? (If you have less coverage, you may not be fully reimbursed for any partial damage.)
•  Are your belongings insured for actual cash value (replacement cost of an item minus depreciation) or replacement cost (the amount it would take to replace the item at current prices)? Most policies provide compensation on an actual cash value basis rather than a replacement cost basis. Talk with your agent to determine whether purchasing replacement cost coverage is worth the extra premium.
• What liability coverages are provided in your homeowners policy? If you have questions, now is the time to ask your insurance representative for answers.
• What amount of medical payments coverage is included in your homeowners policy? This type of coverage pays for medical expenses of a guest injured in your home, regardless of fault. A medical payment claim begins, as do others, with a call to your insurance representative.

Filing Your Claim: Here’s what to do when you have a home insurance claim:

• Report any burglary or theft to police.
• Phone your agent or company immediately. Insurance policies place a time limit on filing claims. Ask questions. Am I covered? Does my claim exceed my deductible? (Your deductible is the amount of loss you agree to pay yourself when you buy a policy.) How long will it take to process my claim? Will I need to obtain estimates for repairs to structural damage?
• Follow up your call with an explanation of what happened in writing, at the request of your agent or company.
• Make temporary repairs and take other steps to protect your property from further damage. Save receipts for what you spend and submit them to your insurance company for reimbursement.
• Prepare a list of lost or damaged articles. Save receipts from any additional living expenses you incur if your home is so severely damaged that you have to find other accommodations while repairs are being made.Provide needed information to the insurance representative assigned to handle your claim.

Talk things over with your agent and adjuster if you are dissatisfied with the settlement offer. Check your policy to see what settlement steps it outlines.

This article was reprinted from the Insurance Information Institute.

Finding the right car

Visit some dealerships and search for the car of your dreams.  Also, most car companies offer Internet sites for you to visit.  You can flip through electronic brochures full of facts and figures, photos and prices in the comfort of your own home.  Once you’ve selected some candidates, take a test drive.

A little research goes a long way!

Once you’re down to two or three vehicles, research their actual cost (as opposed to the dealer’s or manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price).  In other words, try to find out the cost that the manufacturer charges the dealer.

Obtaining this information isn’t as hard as you think.  In fact, some online sites (search Kelley Blue Books for New Car Prices) offer free, comprehensive reports showing vehicle options, dealer invoice and suggested retail price information.  Also, most automobile clubs (as well as some popular consumer magazines) offer this information (some charge a nominal fee).  Ask for a breakdown of the various options to determine if a package of options is better than selecting them individually.

Making your move!

Some people say that the best time to make a deal on a new car is the last day of the month or year.  Sales people often have monthly and yearly quotas and incentives to meet.  They may be more willing to give in on price if they think they can make up their loss in other ways.

When you meet with the sales person and discuss the car (and options you want), the price quoted by the sales person may be very close to the Dealer List Price on your printout!  You can then reveal your printout and tell the sales person what you are prepared to offer: the actual cost of the car plus what you think is a fair percentage for commission.  (This commission percentage is a personal choice and only you and the dealer can determine what’s fair)

A note about trade-ins

Again, knowledge is power.  During your research phase, ask your local Auto Club (or check the Net) for the value of your old car.  You should receive (for free) the average trade-in price as well as the price you could expect if you try to sell it on your own.  The price to sell independently will be higher, but it will also require time and effort you may not want to expend.

After you negotiate the price for your new car, ask the dealer to offer a trade-in value. By waiting, you won’t mess up your new car negotiations with other confusing variables…keep it all separate.  Knowing the price of an average used car (and the current condition of your trade-in) will give you some leverage when negotiating a fair trade-in agreement.

Some final thoughts on car buying

Some negotiations go better than others. There are many abstract variables that can come into play. Did you wait for the best possible time to make an offer? If it is a slow sales month, your dealer may be motivated to move some cars. If you are unable to reach an agreement with your first dealer, shop around. The best consumer is an educated consumer! Good luck and have fun dealing!

Don’t forget to talk to your insurance agent about coverage for your new vehicle!

["Money saving tips for new car buyers" article reprinted from Travelers.com]

• Make sure all electrical appliances are turned off.
• Clean the refrigerator of all perishable foods, and take out the garbage.
• Lock all windows and doors.
• Arrange to have the newspaper and mail held until your return, or have them picked up by a trusted neighbor.
• Arrange to have your lawn mowed (or snow shoveled) while you’re away. Ask a neighbor to set out your trash on collection day and then retrieve empty cans and recycling bins the same day.
• Let a trusted neighbor know you will be away and have them keep an eye on your home. It’s a good idea to leave your vacation address and telephone number with a neighbor so you can be reached in case of an emergency.
• Never leave your house key hidden outside your home.
• Set timers on interior lights.
• Make sure to unplug televisions, computers and appliances susceptible to lightning and power surges.
• Advise your alarm company and local police if you will be gone for an extended period.
• Store jewelry and valuable items in a safe-deposit box.
• Arrange for the care of pets.
• Set the heating system to provide minimum heat of 55 degrees.