Your home protects you from the elements, but heavy rains can weaken that protection. With a little maintenance and a lot of vigilance, it’s not hard to stay safe and dry. Spring rainstorms are a fact of life in many areas of the country, and they help keep things green, even if they keep you […]
June 15, 2017
Home improvement: It’s a never-ending process for many people, and for those of us who aren’t necessarily handy, it can be a hassle, too. But there are plenty of simple maintenance tasks and other improvements you can handle to make your home safer – whether you’re handy or not. And you won’t have to break […]
May 17, 2017
Many people have a limited definition of “distracted driving”: They think it only means texting behind the wheel. There’s good reason for that, because texting requires visual, manual and cognitive attention – the same attention required for safe driving. But although texting is perhaps the most dangerous distraction, there are many others that can impact […]
May 3, 2017
Maybe you’ve been here before. You’ve just come off the plane, picked up your baggage and gone to the rental car counter. You’re tired from the flight, about to begin an ambitious vacation or a challenging business project. And, this is the point at which you’re asked, “Do you want insurance with that?” Most travelers, […]
April 11, 2017
“Never trust a mechanic who drives new cars. They’re either charging too much money for their work, or they can’t keep an old car running — maybe both.” —Patricia Briggs, author Okay, maybe that approach is a bit simplistic when your car breaks down and you need to choose a mechanic. But for many people, […]
March 22, 2017
Spring is just around the corner, and that means something else might be lurking around the corner, too: A nasty pothole. February, March and April are the worst months for potholes, according to Popular Mechanics, because roads are going through a constant process of freezing, thawing and then freezing again. That can lead to cracking, […]
March 13, 2017
Shopping online. Visiting the doctor. Buying gas. In nearly all of the things we do from day to day, there’s the risk of identity theft. You could unknowingly give your information to a fraudster thinking you’re shopping at a legitimate site. Your doctor’s office could experience a data breach. Or, you could come across a […]
February 27, 2017
Every year, unintentional carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning (not linked to fires) sends 20,000 people to the emergency room and causes more than 4,000 hospitalizations. And, you might consider them the fortunate ones. CO also is responsible for more than 400 deaths in America each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. […]
February 17, 2017
The Internet and social media in particular have made it easy to share more of our personal lives with our friends. But, it’s also become easier to share with people we don’t even know. Online privacy isn’t just about protecting your personal information — name, address and birthdate — to help prevent identity theft. It’s […]
January 24, 2017
No matter how safe you are behind the wheel, you’ve probably done things like: Shift into drive while the car is still rolling backward. Ride the brakes on steep hills. Roll into the gas station on empty. Guilty? If so, you may not have even realized you were doing everything wrong. After all, most everybody […]
January 4, 2017