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Sizzle, pop, bang – BOOM!

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On Saturday our neighbors tree caught on fire! One of the branches fell down onto the electric power line below and it started sizzling away.

I was upstairs when this happened. I looked out the window because I saw a person circling in the intersection looking down the street beside our semi detached house. I wrote it off as just someone doing something a little weird.

A few minutes later someone knocked on our door to tell us that the tree beside our neighbors- the neighbors who’s house is attached to ours was on fire!

Ahhhh!

Chris ran outside to see how bad it was and I picked up the phone to call the fire department! I got 911 on the phone and in a shaky voice told them ” the tree next to our house is burning! It’s a big maple, a branch fell on the electric power line!”

Of course, as would happen, I’d just had a shower and my hair was wet and all over the place. Never the less I ran outside to have a look for myself.

By this time it appeared the fire was stopping or slowing down. I went back inside the house to at least comb my hair … our houses weren’t on fire and the tree didn’t look like it was going to fall .. and the phone rang. This time it was the police calling me just to verify the info that I’d told them and to let me know that fire trucks and police were on the way.

As I was on the phone there was a loud explosion! A big bang! Of course I’m freaking out a bit as I’m talking to the police after that! LOL

I later found out that the explosion was the electric box that the wires powering the adjoining street, and our neighbors house went into. Amazingly we still had power.

In the end the fire contained itself and Hydro – our Toronto power company, came along to reset the electricity – one whole street was out but our house still had power – and I think they trimmed the tree too.

It was an exciting few hours but in the end didn’t amount to all that much.

I did learn a few things though … the tree was burning for at least 10 minutes before I called the fire department. Others were aware that there was a fire – especially when you consider the person walking strangely across the street that I’d seen from my upstairs window.

I was the only person to call 911.

The neighbor who’s house was affected was so scared he stayed inside the house!

Hello people .. if your house has a huge chance of catching on fire get the heck out! Number one rule!

So I guess I live in a neighborhood filled with people who have no clue what to do in an emergency situation. Gee that makes me feel better.






Living beyond their means

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You know, whenever I see one of those payday loans commercials on TV I often stop and wonder about the people that use the service.

Certainly it’s a great service if you only use it every once in a while because you have an emergency and either can’t access the money in your bank account or worse, don’t have any money in the bank because your waiting on your paycheck. I used the service once myself in a situation like this.

A long time ago when I used to work in the jewelry trade, before I started my own business, I got paid by paycheck. I’m fairly certain that banks are able to verify that the funds are available much quicker these days, but in the late 80’s and early 90’s banks usually held a paycheck for a few days until they could verify that the money was in the senders bank account.

If I remember correctly, I’d just been paid, but not having a bank balance if I put my check in the bank I’d have had to wait a few days for the money to clear in my account before I could use it and something came up where I needed money right away.

That’s how I came to use the Payday loan service my one and only time. I believe that as soon as I had money available to me through my bank account I went and paid back my payday loan.

As far as I’m concerned there’s nothing wrong with a service such as Payday Loans when they are used properly by people. I mean, I believe that Payday loans were created because people do need money for emergency expenses every now and then, just like I did when I used the service.

The problem that I see associated with Payday loans is more related to how people use them, rather than with the service itself.

We live in a society where people buy what they want when they want it, even if they don’t have the money for those purchases.

I know so many people, nurses and others who make decent money, that seem to live from paycheck to paycheck who use the Payday loan service regularly and also juggle their credit card payments too. Maxing out credit cards and then using one credit card to pay the other credit cards balance has becoming something I’ve seen people do more and more.

As I said most of the people that I know that do this are in fact making decent salaries. Yet their spending habits are out of control. In fact, due to their spending habits, and as a result of borrowing money so often, many of these people end up having bad credit ratings.

Yes, there are people who don’t make much money, who live on a budget, who use Payday loans when they require emergency funds because they don’t make enough to qualify for a traditional loan. I think the Payday loan service is great for those people if they use the service wisely, as in, only occasionally due to emergency and pay back the money they borrowed as soon as possible. Borrowing money and paying it back on time might even help some people develop decent credit rating.

Perhaps banks, credit card companies and services such as Payday Loans should get together and form a rehab style treatment plan for people who chronically overspend or who spend beyond their means?

I’m certainly not a tightwad. I have lots of fancy toys here – things that I don’t really need. However I’ve learned to purchase what I need when I need it, and budget for the things that I want.

There’s definitely a difference between needs and wants and society, with the media pushing goods at as every minute of the day, has forgotten that.

Have you ever wished you could track your teens movements by GPS?

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Have you ever thought about GPS tracking and how handy it would be to equip your vehicle with a GPS tracking unit? I’m sure many a parent has thought of how nice it would be able to use a teen tracking system when their child is late coming home.

Are they ok? Did they get in an accident? The road conditions are bad, could they be in a ditch some where, where it would be hard to find them? All parents have those thoughts from time to time don’t they?

livewiregps.gif When GPS first came out, and even as recently as last year it was much too expensive for the average home owner to have installed in their cars. The cost of the unit and monthly service fees were just too high. Now there are user friendly systems for under $500. GPS systems like the LiveWire by lightningGPS, see photo, make tracking affordable to small businesses and families alike. You can even see how the livewire LightningGPS works by watching this short demo.

If I were a business owner with a small fleet of cars or trucks I’d most definitely consider using the Livewire GPS tracking system and I can see how easily it could be used to track a teenage driver as well.

Would you ever consider using a GPS tracking system on your vehicle? I’d love to hear your reasons why or why you wouldn’t use one.

My reasons for thinking this is a great idea, especially for tracking a teenage driver are simple. 14% of all deaths due to motor vehicle accidents involve teenage drivers, plus these driving deaths occur on weekends at least 53% of the time. 1/3 of these accidents were related to speeding.

Just think, if you were able to track the driving movements and driving habits of your teenager you could sit down and talk with them about their activities and perhaps prevent a fatal accident from occurring. It’s all about saving lives and keeping teenagers safe as far as I’m concerned.

Also, as I mentioned earlier. Suppose you set a midnight curfew for your teenager. They went out with friends and now it’s two in the morning and they still aren’t home. Worried? Well, you could just use the real-time location of a mobile unit system that comes with the livewire GPS to see if the car is moving and to see where it is. If it’s moving you can even track what speed it’s traveling at. If the cars not moving you can see if it’s in a remote location and possibly send help directly to the vehicle if you are worried that your child might have been involved in an accident.

You can of course also use this system if you discover that your cars been stolen. Did you know that approximately 1.7 million vehicles were stolen last year in the U.S. yet arrests were made in less than 15% of these thefts. Having a GPS system in your vehicle might not only help you assist the police with recovering your vehicle, but it might also help catch the thief.

I bet your insurance company might even appreciate it if you had a GPS system in your car. Perhaps they’d lower your insurance rates. Now wouldn’t that be nice.

Obviously I can think of hundreds of reasons why having a GPS system in your car would be a fantastic idea. I’d love to hear your ideas on the subject.

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