exQUIZZme !

As time goes on, more and more Canadians are staying in their homes longer. Feeling a sense of security is an important part of our decision on whether to continue to live in our own home or moving in with children, other family members or deciding to change our residents to a retirement community. The fear of being burglarized, the concerns of having a fire or the panic of not being able to reach the telephone during a medical emergency can make this a very difficult decision. The anxiety of making a choice to give in to our pride and vital independence is one last thing we tend to want to hold on to as long as possible.

Today there is new home security technology available that can make this choice easier for yourself and your family. There are many home security companies available to choose from, however you want to select a company and a technology that is best suited for your lifestyle. According to Patrice De Luca, V.P. of marketing and business development for Protectron Security Systems, it’s important the company and the technology are reliable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.

“Choosing a company that looks after burglaries, fire response and medical emergencies will certainly give you a peace of mind knowing that all your needs are handled by one company,” De Luca added.

Time is crucial when it comes to security

he stressed. For example, it takes the average person approximately 7 minutes before they have an opportunity to call the fire department to notify them of a fire. In some cases, an entire house can be fully engulfed with fire within 4 minutes. Fire statistics report that 8 out of 10 fire deaths occur in the home. Lets assume you have a medical emergency and can not get to the telephone, what will you do? “We offer a necklace, which has an emergency panic button that will trigger the emergency dispatch processor immediately.”

Safety begins at home

Here are a few home safety tips seniors should consider according to De Luca:

• Install and use good locks on doors and windows.
• Don’t hide keys under the doormat, in the mailbox or in a planter … leave an extra set with a neighbor.
• When service or delivery people come to your door, ask for ID, and check with their company if you’re still not sure.
• Make sure the street number on your house is large, well-lighted and unobstructed so emergency personnel can find your home quickly.
• If you decide to install an alarm system, consider one that is monitored for burglary, fire and medical emergencies.

Clocks can be of any type – they could be wall clocks that not only decorates the walls, but also tells time or a mantel piece resting on one’s table etc.. Wall Clocks can be of one of two types. Analog and Digital. While digital clocks are precise, the analog clock serve the same purpose. With the increasing need to be accurate, and every microsecond accounted for Digital clocks are the way to go.

Wall Clocks are a central time telling pieces. Be it a work place, home or a visiting place, its always nice to look up and know what time it is. After all time is money. They can also help other ways – for example a family can set a family alarm while a school can have a clock with a really loud alarm and a microphone attached to it. Apart from serving a functional requirement, of telling the time, the Wall clocks can be used extensively as decorative pieces, collectors items and even investments.

You should see some on the large wall clocks tucked away in a mansion somewhere or an extensively decorated cuckoo clock. Wall Clocks are about more than telling time. They are about style.

Having a pre-approved mortgage will give you the confidence of knowing exactly what you can spend on a home before you start looking. You will also be protected against interest rate increases while you look for your new home.

Your Mortgage Specialist will answer your questions and help you determine which financing terms and options are right for you. Your Mortgage Specialist and Real Estate Professional work as a team to help you find the right home and select the best financing.

Finalizing Your Mortgage

Once you’ve found the home you want to purchase, there are some documents you’ll probably be asked for in order to finalize your financing. They will include:

1. A copy of the real estate listing of the property. If the home is still to be built, the mortgage lender will need to see the architect’s or builder’s plans and details on lot size and location.

2. A copy of the offer to purchase or the building contract, if this document has been prepared.

3. Documents to confirm employment, income and source of pre-approval.

If you have a pre-approved mortgage, it’s a simple matter of finalizing a few details which your Mortgage Specialist will explain to you.

1) Hardwood flooring has a timeless air of quality

Hardwood floors have decorated some of the most exclusive mansions and estates in history and still exudes a feeling of permanence and classic quality compared to manufactured floors.

2) Hardwood floors are natural

Hardwood floors bring the natural outdoors inside, and do not contain man-made chemicals in the wood itself. Homeowners with exclusive design tastes will tend to gravitate towards the quality and natural feel of hardwood floors – there is just something about the feel and look of them that cannot be duplicated in a factory.

3) Hardwood flooring adds value to your home

Installing solid hardwood flooring in your home is a true investment that will retain its value. In many cases, installing hardwood floors with generate a return on investment that exceeds the initial cost of installation.

4) Real hardwood colors will never go out of style

There is a timeless quality about the natural color of hardwoods that will ensure your house never becomes outdated because of its flooring. Recent advancements in laminate flooring have allowed consumers to pick from a multitude of design styles and colors – unfortunately some of these may become outdated and fall out of favor.

5) Hardwood flooring sounds better

If you’ve ever walked over a floating laminate flooring system you’ll hear a muffled echo sound, which is one of the few downsides of laminate floor systems. With proper installation of solid hardwood floors, you will not have this distracting hollow noise. Hollow sounds and vibrations are not an issue with hardwood floors – and this is actually one of the “good feelings” people can literally sense with real hardwood floors.

To read more of the benefits and advantages of hardwood flooring visit http://www.laminateflooringzone.com/hardwood-flooring.htm

It has come to our attention that self-employed people have somehow escaped the burden of “office policies”. No longer. Now even work-from-home hermits can revel in the burden of “office policies.” (This is part three of a series that began at http://www.thehappyguy.com/hermit.html and continued at http://thehappyguy.com/pajamas.html .)

Every office needs office policies, if for no other reason to keep employees from scratching each others’ eyes out or “borrowing” company equipment. The home office is no exception.

If you are wondering why somebody barricaded alone in his basement needs a policy to keep him from stealing his own office equipment, you have obviously never sat alone in your basement 23 hours a day, day after day, in front of a computer screen that freezes every now and then just out of sadistic spite.

Policies designed to keep employees from scratching each others’ eyes out are even more important in a home office. In a corporate setting, spiteful employees go home at night and forget the objects of their loathing. But when one detests oneself, office politics often gets too personal to just forget. And that pest even follows you into the shower…when you take one, that is.

Here are a few guidelines you can use to formulate practical home office policies, just in case you get the hankering to live the glamorous life of the work-from-home hermit.

Every office has rules against sexual harassment. Due to legal requirements, you must adopt a zero tolerance policy for such insensitive advances. If your spouse complains about such a policy, seek legal council. Divorce can be ugly.

Office romance is another story. Most companies permit office romances, as long as there is not an actual office involved. In the home office, romance is encouraged, mostly to avoid the legal repercussions mentioned above.

Generally, spouses do not frown on home office affairs, either. In fact, they usually approve such morale-building activities…as long as this function is not outsourced.

Inventory control in the home office is key. Large companies have policies like: “It is forbidden to remove paper fastening devices from company premises, except within envelopes being disseminated through official company channels.”

Home office inventory control should focus instead on “consumables”. Here is recommended wording for your policy: “Stop hoarding the cupcakes. Leave them in the kitchen.”

In major corporations, absenteeism is a serious problem. Most companies have policies against calling in sick every day. The reverse is true in home offices, where employee omnipresence has been proven to cause psychological trauma in overworked computer keyboards. Read the rest of Work from Home | Office Policies »