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Bear's Winter Edition of "The Inside Information"
My Web Master, Sensi Ron said I should do a Winter Newsletter... just the kinda thing I love to do! Well... hopefully you found time to get through all the items in the Autumn Edition so kick back and enjoy Winter, there's not much to do.
Nobody said it was gonna be easy owning a home, but it really is just a matter of using good old fashioned
"common sense". Speaking of which...yesterday I was kickin back with my feet up on my desk here at WORLD HEADQUARTERS looking out the window at the blowing snow, when I got a call from someone inquiring if I winterized sprinkler systems....
The first thing that comes to mind this morning as I write this; is for all you pet lovin people to get rid of the fur bearing animal living in your furnace...I'm talking about the FILTER!
 | Go out and buy 6 new ones today (filters not cats), this will take you through May at one per month, and if you have them and spent the money on them you'll probably use em. Accountants are nodding their heads right about now.
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| Did you have the furnace serviced yet? Trust me it's less expensive to do the routine maintenance than call for an emergency repair on a Sunday...at night!!
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| Don't forget the humidifier
#1 clean it and replace the media pad
#2 open the damper if it has one
#3 set the Humidistat
#4 TURN ON THE WATER |
Fresh snow has me thinking it's time to break out the ice melt and snow shovel for the walks and to get the snow thrower lubed up and put some Stabil gas additive in the mix so the gas line doesn't get all plugged up with the goo goos. I guarantee ya, when there's a 25 mile an hour bone chilling wind slinging stinging snow daggers at your bare face and the bottom is dropping outa the thermometer it will always feel like 85 degrees out there when you've been yanking on the end of that damn pull rope for probably WHAT SEEMS LIKE FOREVER. (probably need some punktuation
in there someplace) Right about now the Engineers among us are snickering
..."but I have electric start"!! Yeah...did ya check the battery, did ya pull out the clip board and run an OPS test? Bet you even have a Turbo on that bad boy....my kinda guy! (mine can throw a Mini Cooper about 30 feet...on a calm day).
A few simple ideas...
| Did you change the batteries in your smoke detectors when you changed your clocks back an hour. Still getting to work a little ahead the rest of the pack, eh.
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| Do you have a carbon monoxide detector? If you have any of the following gas appliances it would be a good idea. Furnace, Fireplace, Water heater, Dryer, Cooktop, Oven etc. If safety doesn't appeal to you, there's always Life Insurance.
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| Don't run the extension cord for Christmas decorations under the carpet or put staples or nails through it. Lights, electricity, fancy paper wrappings, a naturally crispy (no longer "live") Christmas tree and A FIRE EXTINGUISHER are a good combination. Oh, don't forget to check the charge on the fire extinguisher, if it's the one your Dad had from 1967, you might want to spring for a new one.
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Last on today's list:
| If you ever hear the sound of a JET ENGINE in your fireplace chimney...you immediately know to call 911... you've got a chimney fire!! Yes, this can be avoided using a little common sense. Have the flue cleaned and the system checked by a Certified Chimney Sweep before you fire it up for the season. You know, just to clean out the raccoons, bats, bird and hornets nests, leaves and anything else that managed to find its way in there when the screened rain hat blew off last summer in the wind storm that swallowed up the patio table, barbecue grill and Toto or perhaps the McDonalds bags from the roofers. (There's food for thought.)
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Just ask my neighbor, do ya think the boys from the fire dept. took off their muddy, snow laden boots before running across the white carpet to put out the fire...hey, they were on a mission! Although the ubiquitous yellow residue from their fire extinguishers was a pleasant contrast to her furnishings, but it took quite a bit of elbow grease and cleaning to get ready for Christmas day. I must admit it was an amazing show with the fire trucks, flashing lights and all those fire guys running around...probably coulda sold tickets if I'd been thinking...
If a guy were to sit down with a little time on his hands he could probably come up with a few more but that would take the fun out of it for you, if you have any suggestions feel free to send them in...they may make it into the next edition of "The Inside Information" on the BrettonHomeInspect.com website. Your source for "common sense."
Well, that's it for now, there's probably something on the blonde's Honey Do list to knock off before the sun goes down...maybe I'll sharpen the blade on the lawn mower...she'd like that!
Play it safe and enjoy Michigan in the Wintertime!
"Throw another log on the fire"...
Bear
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