Comments on: Twice yearly organization and safety chores

By: Shani

Shani — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:46:52 +0000

According to my coworkers, this is also a good time to cover / uncover your central air conditioning unit, if you have one in a place with 4 seasons.

By: Ms. Organized

Ms. Organized — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:24:56 +0000

I also check my flash light batteries with the time change.

By: MikeDude

MikeDude — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 14:21:10 +0000

A good unclutter tip…

Save time…replace your smoke detectors with new ones and buy lithium batteries for them (not rechargable). Eventhough each 9 volt lithium is like $5, you won’t have to replace the battery for at least 5 years, and after 5 years or so you should replace the smoke detector anyway.

You should still test the detectors, but it gets rid of that aweful chirping when the batteries go and having a lot of 9 volts on hand.

By: The Shopping Sherpa

The Shopping Sherpa — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:51:51 +0000

I change my toothbrush with the change of seasons. I also rotate my mattress.

I check my fire alarm with daylight saving. Twice a year.

At this time of the year I’m also stripping pictures from my computer onto CDs to make more space.

By: wren

wren — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:26:40 +0000

As far as organization, last weekend I moved my capris and other summer clothes to the far end of the closet and bottom drawer in the dresser and put my sweaters on the fluff cycle in the dryer with a used dryer sheet to freshen them up.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 22:23:45 +0000

Shannon–You should definitely be changing your toothbrushes more often than every 6 months! The recommended is every 3, but you can push it to 4. If it’s cost that’s an issue, you really only have to buy one toothbrush a year (assuming you go to the dentist every 6 months for a regular check-up and grab a free one).

By: jt in the Army

jt in the Army — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:34:36 +0000

heh.
I followed the campaign to change the batteries when I changed my clocks back and found out I’ve been living in my apartment for a month without a battery in either of the 2 smoke alarms.

That got me thinking and I checked if I had a fire extinguisher in the kitchen (gas stove). Nope. No fire extinguisher, either. Going to check state, county and city regulations to see if the landlord is required to provide. If not, then I’ll request one before I buy one myself.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:33:04 +0000

We do all this and also replace our toothbrushes twice a year with the time change.

By: Michael Biven

Michael Biven — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 18:22:58 +0000

For fire safety one good habit to get into that most people don’t think of is too occasionally rotate your fire extinguisher around if it is a dry chemical type (you do own an extinguisher right).

If allowed to sit too long all of the dry chemical inside it will become caked at the bottom of the extinguisher reducing it’s effectiveness. By just rotating it around like the hands of a clock a few times you can prevent that from happening. And remember to check the pressure gauge to make sure it is still holding a charge.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:07:53 +0000

In the fall, I sleep for an extra hour. In the spring, I complain about missing out on an hour.

I hate time change.

Sometimes in the fall, I’ll come into work early by accident and rack up the overtime.

By: Andamom

Andamom — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:07:06 +0000

I like the concept of checking the batteries ritually at these two points of the year. We don’t have a set time for checking these — nor is there anything we do differently when the clocks change. I will say that I feel the entire concept of setting the clocks forward and back is a pain/annoyance so anything that can be gained from it should be examined.

I go through the kitchen and bathroom quite regularly to get rid of items that are expired –or are not being used. I am holding a canned food drive at work throughout the month of November though — and I’ll use this as a suggestion for the people who have yet to bring in goods!

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:27:36 +0000

We’ve never been good about smoke alarm batteries, but since we live in the Hollywood hills and the fire risk is relatively high, I thought I’d start. And since we have so many scattered throughout the house, I thought up a new technique — buying an eight-pack of batteries, doing them all at once, and then varying the brand of batteries next time so I can tell which ones have been switched already.

Also, we keep a lot of non-perishable food on hand in case of earthquakes… this is a great time of year to donate your last batch of food to a food drive and restock. It’s certainl better than letting it all rot. And it can be given away with a spirit of Thanksgiving that there were no big quakes requiring its consumption.