Get Your Car Ready For Winter At Fair
FOR THE RECORD (October 9, 1996): Automotive Service Association sponsored the Car Care Fair last Saturday at Shadle Center. The group was omitted from a list of sponsors in Friday’s IN Life section.
Will your car start when it’s 15 degrees?
In the back of our minds, we know it’s time to get our vehicles in order before winter winds chill us to the bone. Here’s our opportunity: A free Car Care Fair will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Shadle Center.
There will be automotive specialists to look at the cars’ belts, hoses and fluid levels. Any burned-out exterior light bulbs will be changed for free, compliments of the AAA’s annual “Lights On” program. Inspections will be conducted by volunteers from automotive shops, Spokane Community College’s automotive program and the Washington state Department of Ecology.
Get it together
Those who need the impetus to get organized can observe National Get Organized Week, which is next week. The official start is Sunday. To help you get started, professional organizers say the first goal is to stop procrastinating, simplify, decide what’s important and develop goals from there. Those who want to do the dirty job themselves can consult a number of books on the subject. One of the newest is “Kitchen Organization Tips and Secrets,” by Deniece Schofield (Betterway Books, $12.95, ISBN: 1-55870-422-1). For ordering information: (800) 289-0963.
Think safety, take action
Nearly 90,000 house fires occur every day in this country - that’s one every 50 seconds - and most happen during the winter. That’s why next week has been declared National Fire Prevention Week.
It’s a good time to replace the batteries in all your smoke detectors. There should be at least one smoke alarm on each floor of your house and in each bedroom, since most fires occur during sleeping hours.
Flashlights should be kept in handy places throughout the house since most fires are not bright and fluffy; rather they are black, and often, by the time the fire is detected, the electric lights will no longer work. Experts say a house can become engulfed in flames in two minutes, the fire is hot enough to kill just one minute after it starts, and toxic fumes from a burning house are as dangerous as the fire itself.
Hence, prevention is top priority, and the key to surviving a house fire is early detection and planning.
Each home should have a fire extinguisher, second-floor bedrooms should be equipped with escape ladders, and families should have regular fire drills.
A free brochure with safety tips is available by sending a self-addressed, stamped, business-size envelope to: Fire Safety Tips, 415 N. La Salle, 700 B, Chicago, IL 60610.
Get rid of your junk
Those who want to sell their junk before winter, better get moving - the season for garage sales will be over soon. To help you, there’s a booklet available: “Holding a Garage Sale for Fun and Profit,” for $6 plus $1.25 shipping, from the Consumer Education Research Center. For information, call (800) 872-0121, or read about it at the group’s website at http://www.planet.net/cerc.
, DataTimes