by California Casualty | Safety |
It happens every fall; as the first frigid Polar air makes its plunge into the U.S., many of us are scrambling to find the hats, gloves and extra layers we put away for summer.
Hopefully you have had your HVAC system checked and replaced the filters for maximum warmth on these cold days. Here are some more simple tips from Wikihow.com to keep you warm while helping you save on the heating bill:
- Warm rooms by opening window shades when the sun is shining
- Hang cheap, clear shower curtains to block cold air while allowing the sun’s heat in
- Close off unused rooms
- Use rugs and carpets over cold floors
- Cooking with the oven adds heat to your home
- Drink hot liquids
- Wear layers
- Exercise
- Snuggle with a pet
- Get a heating pad or electric blanket
Remember, too, that running ceiling fans in reverse pushes warm air down to the ground.
To help keep you safe, the American Red Cross is launching a new campaign to reduce the risk of home fires that usually increase this time of year. The most essential part of the campaign is to have Americans install and check their smoke alarms and for each household to practice fire drills. The Red Cross also urges everyone to follow these common sense heating safety tips:
- Keep ignition sources like paper, clothing, bedding and curtains at least three feet away from space heaters, stoves and fireplaces
- Never leave heaters and fireplaces unattended
- Place space heaters on a level hard surface like tile floors and away from rugs
- Look for models that have automatic shut off features
- Have wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys and furnaces professionally inspected and cleaned once a year
Now is also a great time to make sure your family has an emergency kit. According to Ready.gov, it should have enough food and water to survive for a minimum of three days and should also contain:
- A battery powered radio
- Flashlight
- Lots of extra batteries
- First aid kit
- Formula and diapers if you have an infant
- Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for sanitation
- Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter in place
- Wrench or pliers to turn on and off utilities
- A can opener
- Any essential medications
- Household chlorine bleach to disinfect and treat water
You can find numerous other winter safety preparations and tips at the California Casualty Resources Page. And don’t forget to make sure your vehicle is ready for winter too.
Now is a really good time to make sure your home or apartment is fully protected for fire, ice, wind and other winter damage. Call a California Casualty advisor today for a policy review and to see what discounts you qualify for at 1.800.800.9410 or at www.calcas.com.
Sources for this article:
https://www.wikihow.com/Stay-Warm-at-Home-Without-a-Heater
https://www.redcross.org/prepare/location/home-family/prevent-home-fires/
https://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit
https://mycalcas.com/2012/11/preparing-your-car-for-winter/
by California Casualty | Nurses |
For most of us, time is a rare commodity. If you had an extra hour, what would you do? Let’s throw out the obvious: get an extra hour of sleep, play with the kids or clean the house, and here are some interesting ideas as the end of Daylight Saving Time this weekend provides that rare extra hour of time:
- Write a love letter to your spouse or partner (when was the last time you did that?)
- Catch up on that Netflix show you keep trying to see
- Try a new recipe
- Read a book
- Get a massage
- Write those thank-you notes you promised you’d get out
- Google yourself and family members
- Plan a perfect dinner party
- Give yourself a makeover
- Unplug the computer and TV, hide your cell phone and just enjoy the silence.
For Educators:
- Use it to write longer, pithy comments as you grade papers due last week
- Get an extra hour of push-ups and exercise to gird yourself for the rest of the school year
- Shop for technology you’d like to have in your classroom (but probably won’t ever have the funds for)
- Revise the lesson plan to satisfy unsatisfied parents and administrators
- Learn how to do math problems the “Common Core” way
- Fill a week’s worth of water bottles and prepare snacks to save time the rest of the week
- Doing that self-evaluation you were supposed to do at the beginning of the school year
- Fill out grant requests so you can afford to buy classroom materials
- Rearrange the class seating chart to accommodate the three new students who are coming into your already crowded classroom
- Look over the “new” testing criteria that will be instituted next semester
The California Casualty $7,500 School Lounge Makeover and $2,500 dollar Academic Award could help you, and it takes less than a few minutes to enter, find out more at www.schoolloungemakeover.com or www.calcasacademicaward.com.
For Nurses:
- Looking up recipes you’d like to cook, if you had the time
- Reacquaint yourself with the people you call family, but rarely see
- Catch up on the charting that electronic record keeping promised would be “that much easier and faster”
- Reorganize the work station so it is actually more functional
- Go for a run or to the gym for the first good workout of the year
- Talk with the patient in room 201 whose yet to have a visitor
- Chart your goals and desires and the prescription to getting there
- Design a patient gown that actually fits and works
- Actually watch one of the shows or movies in your Netflix cue
- Take that nap you promised yourself at the beginning of the year
Need a break? Enter for the California Casualty Give A Nurse A Break getaway at the world famous Hotel Hershey and Spa®. It only takes a minute to enter; details and rules can be found at www.giveanurseabreak.com.
by California Casualty | Firefighters |
October is almost over but the risk for home fires increases as the temperatures drop. To finish out October we want to examine your preparedness.
Did you know?
- On average, 7 people die every day from a home fire
- On average, 36 people suffer injuries as a result of home fires every day
- Over $7 billion in property damage occurs every year from home fires
Families can take 3 easy steps to increase their chances of surviving a home fire:
For helpful tips on how to develop your escape plan and other fire safety information visit the Red Cross webpage at: https://www.redcross.org/prepare/location/home-family/prevent-home-fires.
This article is furnished by California Casualty, providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters and nurses. Get a quote at 1.800.800.9410 or www.calcas.com.
by California Casualty | Homeowners Insurance Info |
As the temperatures cool and the leaves begin to fall, don’t think your yard work is done. Autumn is a critical time for lawns, gardens and other landscaping. What you do now will impact how nice your lawn and garden look next spring.
Did you know that fall is when Kentucky Blue Grass starts regenerating and most root growth takes place? A good feeding and watering will do wonders for that lush green carpet you dream of in the spring and summer. It is also the best time to do weed control. So what do you need to do? These tips come from Lawn Care Made Easy:
- Increase the height of your mower blade; longer grass will help protect against winter’s cold
- Reseed bare patches
- Fertilize your lawn for a healthier spring growth
- Make sure to rake or mulch leaves that can choke your lawn
- Do extra weed control
- Remove highly acidic pine needles that can interfere with lawn growth
Don’t forget your garden. Fall is the time to clean up old plants, add mulch and plant bulbs that will burst with colorful flowers in the fall. Treehugger.com has a list of things you can plant in your garden this fall:
- Trees and shrubs
- Spring flowering bulbs (tulips, crocuses and daffodils)
- Perennials
Other important things you should be doing before the first freeze come from the article, 14 Fall Tips for a Better Spring Garden:
- Emptying hoses, rain barrels and sprinkler systems
- Prepare your spring garden beds and get cold frames and poly-tunnels ready for those early spring plants
- Winterize any garden ponds
- Give young trees and shrubs a good deep fall watering
- Clean, repair and sharpen tools and find proper storage for them
- Review and plan for next year
Just like your garden, when was the last time you had an auto or home insurance policy review? Have you upgraded your home, bought new appliances, electronics, jewelry or vehicles? Now is a great time to contact a California Casualty advisor to make sure you are getting the best coverage at the best value at 1.800.800.9410 or www.calcas.com.
Sources for this article:
https://www.lawncare-made-easy.com/fall-lawn-care.html
https://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/3-things-you-can-plant-your-garden-fall.html
https://www.ebay.com/gds/14-Fall-Tips-For-A-Better-Spring-Garden-/10000000178803946/g.html?roken2=ti.pTWVsaXNzYSBXaWxs
by California Casualty | News |
By Mark Goldberg, California Casualty
I have a terrible admission to make: my daughter was bullied and I failed to recognize it. She is now a freshman in college and has used her experience to write her college admissions essay. While she is succeeding at school and in life, the scars of the insults, name calling and ostracizing still occasionally eat at her confidence and sense of self-worth.
She told me kids had been picking on her back in elementary school. The verbal, occasional physical assaults (pushing, hair pulling, etc.) and false rumors apparently increased in middle school and freshman and sophomore years in high school. I was fairly oblivious because she seemed well adjusted, getting good grades and active in school activities. She has since told me that she felt alone and that my advice that, “these things will pass” and “toughen up” made her feel even more isolated.
If it can happen to us, it can happen to any family. That’s why it is so important that parents, educators and others are aware of National Bullying Month.
October is National Bullying Month. The campaign began with a one week observation and informational campaign in 2006 by the nonprofit PACER Resource Center, created by parents of children and youth with disabilities, to help other parents and families facing similar challenges. Their statistics show more than 13 million American Children are bullied each year – one out of every three students – and bullying significantly impacts the emotional and physical well-being of those involved.
With the explosion of social media, cell phones and portable computers, bullying has been elevated to new levels through “cyber-bullying.”
PACER is encouraging individuals, schools, businesses and organizations around the country to show their support for National Bullying Prevention Month this year, by raising awareness and offering bullying prevention resources.
A highlight every year is Unity Day, where participants are urged to wear orange. The first Unity Day in 2011 was promoted by Ellen DeGeneres, and the day has gone viral via Facebook.
The National Education Association (NEA) is also a major proponent of ending bullying. They cite a report by Joel Haber, Ph.D., and author of Bullyproof Your Child for Life: Protect Your Child from Teasing, Taunting and Bullying for Good, that nearly one out of four children report experiences with bullying and 80 percent of high school students say they witness bullying at least once a week. Eliminating bullying takes the efforts of everybody and as the NEA aptly put it, “Students cannot learn if they are living in fear.”
For more information and resources on National Bullying Prevention Month, visit PACER at https://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/, or learn more about the NEA’s myriad anti-bullying resources at https://www.nea.org/home/42485.htm.
There are also a number of valuable resources including the government’s national bullying prevention website and the Stomp Out Bullying webpage.
Sources for this article:
https://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/
https://www.nea.org/home/42485.htm
https://www.stopbullying.gov/
https://www.stompoutbullying.org/index.php/campaigns/national-bullying-prevention-awareness-month/
