Although it is time to break out the barbeque and gas grills and do much of our cooking outside, many of us don't have outsides to go to and still cook the old fashioned way. The summer is a good time to remind everyone of some natural gas safety tips that we can use all year round.

Here are some things you should do when you suspect a gas leak:

• If the smell is faint, open your windows
• and then leave the area immediately with your family and pets
• Get well away from where you suspect gas is leaking
• Call your local gas company to report a leak

Here are some things that you should NOT do if you think there is a gas leak:

• Don't Light a match
• Don't use any telephone - Cellular or otherwise!
• Don't ring any nearby doorbells
• Don't start your car if it is close to your home
• Don't turn appliances on or off
• Don't turn light switches on or off

On the East Coast you can contact the National Grid, and Con Edison handles much of the electric and gas needs of Manhattan. A partial listing of natural gas companies across the United States can be found on Wikipedia.

But perhaps the most important thing you can do is to purchase and properly install a CO2 detector! You can find good advice about what you should look for when purchasing a CO2 Detector  and how to install a CO2 Detector at these links.

You may also want to safeguard your important documents & valuables in advance with a fireproof file or safe so that you are prepared in the event of an accident. Please be sure to call us to discuss your fireproof storage needs so you are not caught off guard!

A friend was thinking recently that he ought to look into putting some important paperwork in a Bank Safety Deposit Box to protect his stuff from fire, flood and theft. It's great that he was planning in advance of any possible emergency, and I certainly didn't want to discourage him, but here are some important facts to consider when deciding whether a bank Safety Deposit Box makes more sense then a home safe:

-Is there a branch of your bank that actually still has Safety Deposit Boxes, is it convenient to where you live or work, and does it have banking hours that fit into your schedule? I checked out my bank just for fun and the closest branch to my home did not have boxes, while the branch where I work told me there was a two year waiting list for a box!

-Did you know that nothing in a Safety Deposit Box is FDIC Insured?

-Did you know that your personal insurance policy may not cover your valuables stashed in a safety deposit box in the event of theft and fire, and almost certainly not in the event of flood which is usually exempted on policies as an act of Mother Nature. If you have or are getting a box, check with your Insurer to make sure you are covered under your home insurance for at least for fire and theft of property not in your home.

-Did you know that states can and have seized boxes if they consider them "unclaimed". Unfortunately, states in need of money during recessionary or difficult times may resort to labeling your box as unclaimed for no reason at all! Click on this link to ABC News to take a look at this hair-curling tale and see what happened to one poor womans valuables.

- I have seen several mentions of a company that digitally stores your photos, videos or DVD's, and important documents on-line. Unfortunately, they don't seem to exist anymore! Gee, I wonder what happens to all your important stuff when the company you hire to save it for you goes out of business? (Of course you can't store your grandmother's pearls digitally anyway!)

- There are several things you definately should not store in a safety deposit box, but which it is recommended that you store at home in a fireproof safe such as wills, Power of Attorneys, Passports, and funeral Instructions. 

So I say, if you need to have a fireproof safe to store some things in anyway, why bother at all with a bank safety deposit box? Please call today so I can help you get the right safe to fit all your important documents and valuables.

With the amazing popularity of all things "cooking" these days, including Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen on TV, Julie & Julia in the movies, and Julia Child's 40 year old Mastering the Art of French Cooking back on the bestseller list, you would think that we are all out there de-boning chickens and cooking veal stock!

I think it's more likely however that we are undergoing a renaissance of imaginary cooking. I personally asked for Mastering the Art of French Cooking from my husband for Christmas this year, with the proviso that he never, ever, expect me to make any of the recipes in the book!

We are all so busy these days that is is almost impossible to find the time to cook like our parents and grandparents did. I keep wondering why I can't make duck the way my Grandmother did, or where the recipe for those muffins I loved as a child went to. We think about food a lot in our culture, and we are nostalgic for a past that although not perfect, was full of special occasions that centered around family and food.

So with Thanksgiving coming up next week, a lot of us will actually be cooking for real like our parents and grandparents before us and making our traditional Thanksgiving Feast for our families and friends.  I would like to offer you all some cooking fire safety tips to help keep your holiday safe and festive:

- Wipe up all spills on your stove top. This keeps grease from accumulating.

- Wear tight fitting sleeves or roll-up your sleeves when cooking. (No cooking in your Kimono please!)

- Keep all oven mitts, pot holders and dish cloths off of the stove!

- Keep all electrical appliances off of the stove. (Who knew that a blender could spontaneously combust while sitting over an enclosed pilot light?)

- Close the Doors! This applies to Oven, Microwave, and Toaster Oven Doors and not just the kind you walk through! If you have an oven or microwave fire CLOSE THE DOOR, turn off the appliance, pull the plug if it is accessable, and if the fire does not go out immediately CALL 911!

- Have a Fire Extinguisher handy. However - you must practice using your fire extinguisher in advance as you will not have time to read the instructions when your popcorn is on fire!

- Do not throw water on a grease fire. I know you have heard this before but it bears repeating.

For many more fire safty tips please go to http://www.fire-extinguisher101.com/hazards.html

Please have a safe, tasty and wonderful holiday everyone!

All those guys at This Old House are like old friends after all these years. I always wonder what my house would look if they ever got hold of it? (Much better no doubt!) So when I was tooling around the internet  the other day imagine my surprise when I happened across Norm Abrams and Kevin O'Connor of This Old House talking with a safe expert about Meilink, Fireking and Fireking Media Vault fireproof furniture. (View the This Old House fireproof furniture video here.)

And clearly, if fireproof furniture is a topic of interest to these experts, shouldn't you be thinking about how your valuables are stored and whether they are safe from fire, burglars, water or impact damage?

It's unfortunate that we can't all have the This Old House crew come and remodel our digs, but we do all have access to the proper fireproof furniture, safes, files and Data Vaults to protect our property!

None of us can afford to lose our valuables. Please don't wait until it's too late to think about this!

Things seem to get away from us these days. There are so many things to do and, it seems, always less and less time to do them in. If you are trying to find some ways to better organize your life and all the little piddly things that need to get done, check out this helpful article by Eli Davidson titled How To Reclaim Your Time in the Huffington Post.

As you read through this article, you might start to think about some really important things that have been nagging at the back of your brain for a long time. Things that you continually put off doing because they didn't need to be done right now at this moment, because there seems to be no specific incentive or reason to get started, and because you don't want to think about the scenarios in which these things would be required.

Perhaps if you took the steps to deal with some really important things like protecting your valuables from fire, flood or burglars, or getting all your important records together, or providing some kind of back-up for your data in case of a computer meltdown, a rather large weight might be lifted from your head which would free you up to deal with other things that, although important, are really less critical.

There are very good resources out there to help you put together your important records so they will be organized and available in case of a catastrophe. One of the best and most comprehensive guides is provided by Lance Armstrong's Live Strong Foundation. It is all in their Important Records Survivors Should Keep pages. Please don't be put off if you are not a "survivor" - this is good information for everyone to have in case of an emergency!

But now, where do we keep our important records once we have them all together? And how do we safeguard our valuable papers, our data and our property from flood, fire and burglars? This is the easy part - get a UL listed fireproof file, fireproof safe, fireproof data safe or fireproof backup device, or if your concern is primarily theft get a UL Listed burglar resistant safe, (which are often also UL listed for protection from fire, floods and impact.)

Why not keep our valuables in a safe deposit box at the bank?

Please see our upcoming blog on this topic coming soon!