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Most of these recommendations are common sense, please be safe and enjoy your Holidays!
General
1.      Choose lights that have been tested and approved by a reputable testing laboratory such as UL.  Approval will be indicated on the packaging.
2.      Holiday lights are NOT intended for permanent installation or use.
3.      Consider using the new LED lights which are cooler burning, use 90% less electricity and last up to 100,000 hours. Recycle your old lights through Ace Hardware’s holiday light recycling program.
4.      Inspect all of your lights for the following: damaged or frayed wires, cracked or broken sockets, damaged or broken plugs or any loose connections.  Recycle any old or damaged lights at your local Ace Hardware Store. Never replace the plug on a string of holiday lights.  The plugs contain special safety devices which are not available in replacement plugs from the hardware store.
5.      Be careful on ladders.  For a...

      It’s amazing the amount of storage space you can gain by organizing your closets, pantries and sheds and installing a shelving system that uses the space more efficiently and effectively. If you’ve decided it’s time to organize your closet space. You’ll want to consider a few things before you head off to the hardware store to ensure a successful project.
     Here are some great products you can install yourself, Easy Track and interMETRO or you can come up with your own system using standard shelving and supports:
1. Planning is everything! “Measure twice, cut once” is an old carpenter’s saying and one it will do you well to remember. Before buying your product you’ll want to document as much about the space you’ll be working with as possible and consider the following:
 What are the measurements of the space? ( length, width and height)
 What ‘obstacles’ are in the way? (door, windows, outlets, switches, etc).
 How will I attach this to my walls and/or where are the ‘studs’ (see tip #2 for finding a stud)
 What material are my walls? (drywall, brick, lathe & plaster, etc.). If your walls are wood framed they will be covered with either drywall or lathe & plaster depending on the age of your home. Homes built after...

Five simple tips to keep your plumbing system in tip top shape.
1.      Know how to shut off the water supply.  This includes both the main water supply and individual fixtures like sinks, toilets, water heaters and clothes washers.  If a pipe bursts, a toilet overflows or your water heater fails the first thing you’ll want to do is shut off the water.  Be sure everyone in your household knows where they are and how to shut them off.
2.      Treat your drains once a month to prevent clogs.  You don’t need to use harsh chemicals or special tools.  You can...

Laundry adds up quickly these days with the various activities that require multiple outfit changes – work, exercise, gardening, date night, etc. so I thought I’d provide a few tips to help conquer the clothes piles.

Multi-compartment hampers – if you have a lot of clothes or a lot of family members, sorting laundry as you go is a huge time-saver! Assign a type of clothing item to each compartment, such as whites, darks, cold or hot wash only, and drop your items into...

Too much to do.  Too little time.  Too many obligations.  Given the fact that each one of us is given 24 hours in a day, how do we figure out what is the best possible use of those hours? 
Simply put, setting priorities means you have a ready answer to the question: “In this particular moment of time in my day, should I do this activity or that one?” 
What is the best way to answer this question?  What criteria can be used to answer it? 
That’s when things become interesting.   
Setting priorities is more than just creating endless to-do lists. It goes much deeper than that.  Prioritizing means getting the helicopter view of our life – stepping back – way back – and figuring out where the heck...

Sometime last year I was unfortunate enough to have my room mate lock me out of the room. I had just gone to the gym and had forgotten my keys and meanwhile he had left campus for the weekend!  I called Campus Security to come open my lock (something I hate doing as they charge $10 a pop) and then went to the floor lounge to wait.  I plopped down on the couch and started flipping through channels on the TV and stopped on a James Bond flick.  During the few minutes that I was watching, Bond produced a seemingly mundane credit card and with a quick motion it became a lock pick!  A few moments...