7 things to do to safeguard your stuff in case of a house fire
In October 2017, my garage caught on fire. It’s all been a truly awful experience, and there’s been a steep learning curve for us.
Here are a few house fire preparation things that you can do right now to make sure that, if you face a catastrophic loss, you end up with the best of a bad situation…
Your just-in-case emergency supplies list (without getting too post-apocalyptic about it)
The world is pretty rough for some of us with natural disasters, flooding, hurricanes, and the incoming zombie apocalypse. Strike that last one. It’s worrisome in certain areas (and we know that even U.S. citizens don’t always get the help they need in their own country), and it never hurts to be prepared. But you don’t have to get all paranoid survivalist about it. Just a few extra supplies on hand can give you a little peace of mind.
I scoured the CDC website to see what they recommend for emergency supplies to have on hand. Here are the most important…
I was robbed while I was at home and it changed me forever
I was sleeping, but some rustling noises woke me up and I unconsciously reacted to them by jumping out of bed and running into the living room, where the noises were coming from. Them BAM! There he was — a hugely tall guy one foot away from me, in the middle of tearing through my living room.
I was being robbed.
Books, timers, and mallets: Home security measures to keep you safe in your temporary space
We have a whole tag full of safety tips that you might want to peruse. But perhaps the best advice on this subject came from a comment left on this post by Offbeat Homie Stilleto. She had a fabulous breakdown on temporary home security measures…
4 tips on using an X-Acto knife without it ending in bloodshed
I remember when I took my first class at college, the first thing the professor did was show us how to use an X-Acto properly and how to cut a mat board. She went over every detail, told us to be extra careful because they are sharp little bastards. And what happens? Not five minutes later, a girl cuts open her hand and, as I later found out, had to get stitches and couldn’t work with that hand for a while. So here are a few little tips for other DIYers. I’m mostly just wanted to address common things I’ve seen done that end in injury.
Making the choice to believe in people, or: Why I choose to be “naïve”
When someone cuts me off in traffic, I imagine that they’re in a terrible hurry and didn’t see me. When a young man asks to use my cell phone in a bad part of town, I hand it over and ask if he needs anything else. When I’m taking a Greyhound bus ride and the bus is half full of freshly released prisoners, I always happen to end up right in the middle of their group of seats. I am often called naïve. But I won’t let that change my world.
Creating a safe and happy home in a dangerous space
We very intentionally moved to our current home after a series of not-quite-right trials elsewhere in the country. In such a site, we saw our lives unfolding with love, adventure, and fresh air. And then, we lived in the home for a year, and realized things were not the way they had first seemed. The less pleasant characteristics of our neighborhood began to creep in, and their severity ranged from small to glaring.
Safely taking the bus at night
The days are finally getting longer here in the Northern Hemisphere, but you might still find yourself commuting in the dark for a few weeks yet. Or maybe you’re a public transit regular who uses the bus to get home after a night out. Let’s talk about safety when you take the bus after dark…