* Plumbing Repairs: While plumbing can be a pain in the neck (literally), most people are perfectly capable of making simple repairs, like replacing a leaky faucet or broken sprinkler head. Potential annual savings: $100 to $1,000 for typical repairs.
* Pest Control: Using approved chemicals and methods that you can look up online, you can treat your own house for insects and rodents. Savings: Up to $50/mo, or $600/yr.
* Painting: If careful, you can tape and edge like a painting professional. Savings: $400 to $1,500 for typical interior paint jobs.
* Replace Light Fixtures: Many people avoid changing out light fixtures because they don’t know how. But once the job is started, they realize how easy it is and wonder why they almost called an electrician who wanted $180, when it took them 20 minutes and cost $40 for the fixture.
Take Steps To Reduce Severe Pollen Allergies
With winter officially over, burgeoning trees and flowers herald spring and seasonal allergies. Tree pollens and mold spores can wreak havoc on the 35 million Americans who suffer itchy eyes, runny noses, scratchy throats and fatigue. Beyond over-the-counter and prescription medications, there are simple steps sufferers can take to reduce their misery:
1) Limit exposure. After months of cabin fever, staying inside with the windows shut tight on a lovely day
may seem like torture. But consider the alternative: sneezing and wheezing and rubbing your eyes non-stop isn’t fun either.
2) Plan outings carefully. Rainy and non-windy days are best for keeping pollen at bay. Remember, too, that pollen counts peak in the midday hours. Avoid grassy and wooded areas. Check your local news sources for pollen counts.
3) Park strategically. You’ve seen how pollen can sometimes turn a car greenish yellow, so if you park outside, try to avoid parking under a tree. Your car may be a bit warmer by being in the sun rather than under a shady tree, but you’ll be less likely to get a nose-full of pollen when you open the door.
4) Scrub up. When you come back into your home, remove your shoes — or at least do a thorough job of wiping off residual pollen from your excursion. And wash your hands. You may even want to shower and get into some pollen-free duds. When you wash your clothes, use a dryer, rather than an outdoor clothesline.
5) Clean pollen magnets. Carpets and linens, too, can hold on to pollens, so vacuum rugs and change sheets more frequently than at other times of the year. That goes for bath towels, too. An in-home air filtration system can help remove irritating particulates.
NEWS FROM YOUR REAL ESTATE CONSULTANT FOR LIFE
VISIT WWW.SALTLAKEREALESTATE.COM OR CALL 801-710-7436
Mel’s Home News
News To Help You Save Time And Money April 2015
Where Is Everybody?
Many astrophysicists believe that there are around 500 quintillion (500 billion billion) sun-like stars in the universe. Around those stars, low estimates are that about 22% of them are orbited by an Earth-like planet, one with similar temperature conditions that could have liquid water and potentially support life similar to that on Earth.
That suggests that there’s a potentially-habitable Earth-like planet orbiting at least 1% of the total stars in the universe—a total of 100 billion billion Earth-like planets. Suppose, say scientists, that after billions of years in existence, 1% of those Earth-like planets develop life. And on 1% of those planets, life advances to an intelligent level like it did here on Earth. That would mean there could be 10 quadrillion (10 million billion) intelligent civilizations in the observable universe. Doing the same math in just our own galaxy, for the 100 billion estimated stars in the Milky Way, there could be 1 billion Earth-like planets and 100,000 intelligent civilizations in our galaxy. SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), an organization dedicated to listening for signals from off-planet intelligent life, has never picked up any kind of signal at all. Not one. Ever. So, where is everybody?
Time For Spring Cleaning
The idea of spring cleaning has been around for thousands of years. In fact, in some cultures, doing an annual deep cleaning is associated with more than just clearing out dirt and clutter. For example:
In Jewish custom, Passover marks the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and takes place two weeks after the Jewish New Year. Because keeping leavened bread in the home during Passover is considered an affront, even overlooked crumbs count. To combat inadvertently insulting God, Jews scour their homes before Passover to ensure they didn’t miss any bread. Since Passover comes around April, many people in the northern hemisphere consider this the origin of spring cleaning.
The Chinese also have a tradition of doing an annual cleaning of their homes, but they do it in conjunction with the Chinese New Year, which occurs in late January. The Chinese will sweep their floors and clean to get rid of bad luck that accumulated during the previous year. Once the house is clean, they welcome good fortune by observing a prohibition against sweeping for the few days following the New Year in order to prevent sweeping away any good fortune that came with the turn of the year.
Ultimately, doing an annual cleaning in spring may have more to do with simple biology. During winter, we’re exposed to less sunlight due to shorter, often dreary days. We have less energy because shorter days lead to the production of melatonin, which induces sleepiness. Conversely, when we’re exposed to sunlight in the spring, we feel more awake, and also more like freshening up after a long, closed-in winter.
