Winter Safety Series: Your Vehicle - Preparedness Tips

With the chill of winter upon us now, I thought it might be good to focus several posts on winter survival and health during the winter months. Today I want to talk about taking care of your car and preparing for the worst, preparation beforehand is the best thing you can do to survive during these nasty cold months. If you are like me you travel back and forth to work and feel like you live in your car most weeks,our lives revolve around our vehicles.  I sometimes feel like I take advantage of the fact my car starts and goes when I put the keys in the ignition. What a surprise and aggravation if you are not prepared for your car/truck/suv to not start or stop running when you least expect it. It is also a very helpless feeling to be stranded on the side of the road and think help is never coming. We often put off things we could do ahead of time until it is to late, taking care of your vehicle is something you must do today.

What can you do to be better prepared? 

1. Know some basics about your vehicle- how to change a tire, how to jump-start your battery, how to add fluids and where each fluid actually goes. (get someone to teach you these things, read and become familiar with your vehicles manual beforehand), little things go along way to solving a problem on the road.
2. Check your tires- make sure you have good tires before winter gets here, check the tread and the amount of air pressure in the tires.
3. Change or have your oil changed- cold temperatures can make your oil thicker and then it will not lubricate as well.
4. Wax your car-- helps to protect it from corrosive salts on the road (you know that stuff they are spraying all over the roads to melt the ice/snow) 
5. Wiper blades- check them for wear and tear, change them if you are not sure. Heated wiper blades are an option now too. Windshield washer fluid for winter should have some de-icer/ antifreeze component to it, that will really help you on cold mornings (I use this all the time in the winter) 
6. Get a good tune-up and have the mechanic check all your belts and hoses, this will help prevent any mishaps due to a faulty belt or loose hose. A mechanic can check your vechicle for all of the above items and winterize it for you if you are not comfortable doing it yourself. A good mechanic will not mind showing you the ins and outs of your car either, they are good teachers of car care. (So I am a little biased, my little brother is a mechanic and is awesome..lol)
7. Check your antifreeze (in the radiator that is..), this is a no-brainer.... the water in your radiator needs to have antifreeze added to keep your engine from freezing to death....literally. Make sure you get antifreeze that is rated for your area of the country. Here in the south (I live in NC) we don't use the same kind as say somebody in Buffalo NY due to the range in cold temps here in the south. Although it was a chilly 8 degrees the other morning and I about froze my tushy off. 
8. Fill your tank with gas-- you don't wanna get stuck on the side of the road and have to walk in the cold because you ran out of gas. 
9. Pack an emergency tote box in your vehicle-- this goes a long long way to saving your butt if you totally did not do any of the above tips and your car is dead on the side of the road or in a ditch somewhere..... I like to use a simple plastic tote box with handles that is clear so I can see what is inside. I keep my jumper cables, first aid kit and other emergency car care accessories in it all the time. During the winter I also keep these items in my .............

Emergency Winter Tote Box : 

• Blankets or sleeping bags
• Paper towels
• De-icer spray
• Scraper and small shovel
• Energy boosting type Snacks (granola bars, dried fruits, canned fruits, beef jerky etc)
• Water- no sugary sweet soda, keeping hydrated will help save your life
• Another cell phone charger (maybe a juice box type charger too)
• Road flares and /or reflective triangles to signal you need help
• Extra gloves, hats, warm clothing
• Flashlights, camp light
• Pocket knife or multi-tool with knife,scissors and screwdrivers on it.
• Deck of cards or simple games for kids (coloring books/crayons work well too)
• List of emergency numbers or small phone book 
• Toilet paper, wet wipes for personal hygiene (extra feminine hygiene items too)
• Basic meds like Tylenol (acetaminophen), Ibuprofen, Antacids, Anti-diarrhea , etc.(unless your first aid kit has these in it)
• Hand sanitizer 
• Kitty litter- nonclumping kind- to help with tire traction and make walking easier around car
• Battery powered weather radio if possible (with extra batteries)

Think "what would I need if I was stuck in a ditch somewhere in the middle of nowhere with my kids and nobody could find me for a couple days", that is how I determined what I needed to pack in my winter emergency tote box. 

In the event of an emergency while driving in winter weather conditions the best advice I can give is STAY CALM! Getting anxious and all upset will help nobody in the event of any emergency. Stay in or near your car if possible and if it is safe. Make sure your phone is charged before the car battery dies, make sure your gps location service is on via your cell phone settings.

Tomorrow we will focus on "Winter Home Safety" and how to prepare your humble abode for the frigid winter weather safely. I hope these tips are helpful and can someday safe a life. Feel free to share this post/blog via social media.

New Years Celebrations: Choose Your Ride Wisely

The picture says it....Drink, Drive...............Go To Jail! We all know this is true, so why do you still do it?
With the popularity of Uber, Lyft and other ride sharing services, plus the fact that nearly everyone has a smart phone now with social media access.............Get a ride home!! Driving buzzed, drunk or even high on prescription medications is not the right answer! Save a life this New Years, it might be your own!

Don't let me see you in the ER this weekend, I am working and you will get a lecture......just sayin! 

Thank you!

End Of An Era #RiPPrince

 Last week we lost another iconic musician, Prince. The end of an era that I remember so well as I am an 80's girl. Only 57 when he was found dead on Thursday April 21st, so young........so sad.

My top 5 favorite Prince songs:

1. Lets Go Crazy
2. Purple Rain 
3. Little Red Corvette
4. U Got The Look 
5. 1999 

What are some of your favorite Prince hits? leave a comment and let me know.

A Tweet A Day Keeps The Doctor Away {infographic}

 

The Faces of Drinking and Driving, they tell stories now

Faces that were once flawless, full of life, smiling and happy. Faces that now tell stories of heartache, lost lives and lost dreams. We all seem to know someone that has been affected by a drunk driver. Behind those faces still lives a real person with a real heart! Think twice about driving anything after drinking alcohol or taking any type of mind altering substance, in a split second you can change the face of someone else forever! I continue to share stories of victims so that one day at least one person will think and not get into that car drunk and at least one live may be saved, one of those lives could have been one of these sweet people's lives and dreams!
Credit to www.FacesofDrunkDriving for some of this information

Natalia Bennett and four others were headed home from a birthday party in Austin. Her front seat passenger was Jacqui Saburido. It was a little past 4:00 in the morning on Sunday, September 19, 1999.
Reggie Stephey, 18, was also on his way home. He had been drinking. Less than a mile from his driveway, Reggie drifted across the center stripe and hit Natalia’s car head on. Natalia Bennett and Laura Guerrero died at the scene.
Jacqui suffered third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body after the car caught fire.

The only thing Jacqui remembers about the crash is the whir of the blades on the helicopter that came to rush her to the hospital. Extensive third-degree burns scorched her eyes and left her blind; melted off her hair; took her ears, lips, nose, and eyelids; and robbed her of the use of her hands. Doctors did not expect her to survive.
But she did. Jacqui has had well over 100 operations since the crash. When her medical bills topped $5 million several years ago, she lost count of the total expenses. She has no health insurance.
The carefree, fun-filled life Jacqui once knew as a teenager in Caracas is gone forever. Her appearance and her ability to live independently went up in flames over a decade ago, along with her plans for a career and a family. She continues to be unsure of what her future holds.

Read more about Jacqui here 

A Dallas native, Sean was a business major at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. He loved sports and girls, a good combination for a guy who was an athlete and who already had modeling agents in Dallas and New York City.
Sean’s mother, Jenny, had her hands full with Sean; his identical twin brother, Todd; and his older brother Ben.
The night before Easter Sunday in 2005 changed everything for all of them.

The vehicle spun to the left and
the right passenger door of the
pickup struck a tree in the median.”
Sean still can’t remember that Saturday night. Like many times before, he had been out drinking. When he was ready to call it a night, he simply got a ride with a friend. Unfortunately, his friend had been drinking too.
Just five minutes from the safety of Sean’s apartment, the driver lost control of his truck and slammed into a tree – on the passenger side where Sean was sitting.
No one ever discussed being a designated driver.

Ryan McDaniel was once a college athlete enjoying the benefits of a full football scholarship at a major university. When his grades fell, he transferred to play at Midwestern State. That’s where he met Sean Carter.
After they’d been drinking for several hours, Ryan was driving Sean home when his truck hydroplaned and crashed into a tree. He pleaded guilty to a charge of intoxication assault and was placed on probation for 10 years. His goal to be a football coach vanished. When Ryan was again arrested for drinking and driving, his probation violation landed him in prison and county jails for 26 months. Released in 2011, he now works in his family’s fishing business.
Ryan and Sean met up seven years after the crash. They agreed their roles could have been reversed. Now both men are focused on hope, healing, and a restoration of their friendship.

Since the crash, Sean and Jenny have embraced their new mission in life – to tell everyone they can about choices, consequences, and the preventable dangers of drinking and driving.

WhenSeanSpeaks, Inc is Sean’s and Jenny’s nonprofit organization that raises money for traumatic brain injury research. Through it, they are sharing their story nationwide to help others with traumatic brain injuries like Sean’s.

This commitment to their new mission to help others led them to join the Texas Department of Transportation’s drunk driving prevention, awareness, and education campaign.

Learn more about Sean and his mom Jenny here

Safe A Life!! 

Save a Life isn't just the name of the Texas Department of Transportation's DWI-prevention and public education program – it's a call to action for everyone using Texas roads and freeways.
Texas drivers look out for others. They help each other. They don't let others drive drunk, they don't tolerate those who do, or ride with them.
Drinking and driving injures or kills Texas drivers every day. This is why the Save a Life program wants these stories to be heard. They do it for the same reason Sean and Jacqui tell us their stories – to save lives.

Save A Life should be a nationwide  campaign, why should just Texas be using it, think about a nationwide educational program that all states were taught, all kids knew and all people could share! Dreams, why should they be! Drunk Driving has got to stop, it is a no brainer people!! 

The following video makes you think also in our social media world now, just what happens when you do tweet a little #happyhour tweet.... what might follow