Posts Tagged ‘retirement’

Panic Alarms For Home And Business.

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

In all probability, every home and every business would benefit from the protection of a panic alarm. Breaks-in are common enough, but with people living longer the chances of stroke or heart attack have risen too. If you were living alone it would be awful to be lying on the ground incapacitated for hours. Panic alarms are the solution. They can be sited in a handy location or worn around your neck.

These are not the kind of personal alarms that emit a high pitched whistle or siren sound. Those alarms are meant to deter criminals on the street or to draw attention to the user. No, I mean a device that starts off your home security system. it does not create a noise of its own, but signals with the main security control box by some sort of radio signal.

Some of these panic alarms do not trigger the main security siren, but instead send a message to a monitoring security company. These so-called silent panic alarms are most often used in banks, firearms shops and places that handle lots of cash. However, any business could use a silent panic alarm. Household alarm systems usually trigger the external siren in order to signal your neighbours that you are having problems.

Panic buttons are especially helpful to the elderly or and infirm. Sometimes, people fall and cannot get up. You could also have a heart attack or stroke and not be able to make it to the phone. A panic button on a card around your neck would solve this problem. Some of these panic buttons are monitored too and others even have a microphone and speaker so that you can speak to an operator and explain your situation.

Some of these panic buttons have a keypad so that you can send codes to the operator. Other means have been built into watches and brooches in order to make them easier to carry. If you wear your panic alarm, it is much less easy to forget to take it with you when you go upstairs or into the garden.

If you can afford security, you really ought to have a system, as good as you can afford, installed into your home and business. A panic alarm is a useful additional item for home and office use too, but it is particularly comforting to the elderly. Many older people are frightened of falling when they are in the house alone and fear of burglars or worse is a full time worry. A panic alarm linked to the main home siren is also a reassurance to women living alone.

If you do get a home security alarm with a panic button, make certain that you keep a spare battery near at hand and check that the battery in the equipment has not become depleted. You should also warn the neighbours you get on best with that you have a home security set-up and that they should come to your assistance or phone the police, if they hear your home security siren and see the flashing light.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home security systems comparison. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

categories: alarm systems,security,home,business,family,home business,home accessories,consumer electronics,elderly care,other,uncategorized,happiness,retirement,interior design

Home Security - 10 Tips To Protect Yourself And Your Family

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

When people think of home security, they are inclined to think of electronic surveillance systems. However, there are other ways to protect yourself and your family from injury and burglars. I will give you my top ten tips for home security.

1] Windows are really the key to home security. Window-stays become loose or sloppy as they get older and now and then you can get a window-stay to jump off its peg by thumping the outside window frame. Fit window stay locks

2] Doors must be robust, well-hung on solid hinges and have secure locks. Fit deadlocks, especially on external doors.

3] Extra keys should not be hidden near the door under a mat, a flower pot or a rock. If you want to leave a key with a neighbour, select the neighbour carefully. Be wary of those with teenage kids, their friends may become aware that the spare key in the fruit bowl is to your house.

4] Tools that can help a burglar must be locked away. Keep your shed and garage doors locked and if you have a ladder, chain and lock it to a fixed point like a wall.

5] Dogs are useful for home security, but they cannot be relied on. Some thieves will poison a dog to get in. If you leave your dog in the house, get a box to fit inside your door to collect whatever comes in, lock the letter box closed or seal it off for good. If you leave the dog in the garden, try to get a neighbour to check up on it from time to time.

6] Plants and bushes should not be allowed to grow big enough to obstruct anyone’s view of windows and doors. Passers-by and ‘nosy neighbours’ are a big disincentive to thieves, but if no one can see a ground floor widow, the burglar can gain access unnoticed. if you do want bushes under your windows, make them tough, thorny ones.

7] Boundary walls or fences are your first line of defense. They can be a good deterrent, if you get the style right. Some people embed broken glass into the top of the wall, but this can be against the law and can hurt unwary cats. The best thing to do is nail carpet-gripper just below the top, inside lip of the wall. Anyone putting their hands over the wall to pull themselves up will get a very horrible shock and leave DNA.

8] Valuables should not be put on show near windows. Your house is your home not a presentation case. Put your TV, DVD player and video recorder in a cabinet, maybe get a safe for your valuables and conceal that too.

9] External lighting is a key part of night-time security. Get exterior lights that are activated by motion (microwave) or heat (passive infra red), put at least one on each outside wall of your house.

10] Electronic surveillance systems are a necessity these days. You do not need cameras, but they are helpful for identifying intruders. Your home security system can be wired or wireless, monitored or not.

These top ten home security tips should prevent your home from becoming an easy target for burglars.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with wired home security systems. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

categories: alarm systems,security,home,business,family,home business,home accessories,consumer electronics,elderly care,other,uncategorized,happiness,retirement,interior design

Online Stock Trading For Retirees

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Retirement usually brings two big changes to the life of the retiree: more time and less money. The invention of the Internet brought about many changes in the way we conduct our lives and our own business. We can take care of our bills online, shop online, bank online, and even make a date online!

You can also participate in online stock investing, which I think, could fit in nicely. Online stock investors love having the capability to look at their investment accounts whenever they want to, and online stock brokers like having the capability to take orders over the Internet, as opposed to using the telephone.

You start by reading the newspapers and watching the news. Any news items that suggest good news for a company can be followed up by greater research into the company concerned. Most stock brokers and brokerage houses now provide online stock research to their clients as well as online stock trading. Another great thing about online stock trading is that fees and commissions are usually lower. While online stock trading is good news, there are some drawbacks.

If you are brand new to trading, having the ability to actually speak with a stock broker can be very beneficial. If you aren’t experienced in the stock market, online stock trading may be a rather dangerous thing for you to do. If this is the case, make sure that you learn as much as you can about trading stocks before you start ‘live’online stock trading.

You could run a dummy portfolio. For example, most online stock brokers offer the facility to run a ‘watch list’ or dummy portfolio, where you can ‘buy and sell’ without using real money.

You ought also to remember that not everyone has a computer with Internet access on them all the time, although most mobile phones can get online, so you might not always have the ability to get online to make a trade. You will need to be sure that you can call and talk with a broker if you use an online stock broker. This is true whether you are an advanced stock market trader or only a novice.

It is also important for the retiree to sign up with an online stock broker that has been around for quite a while. You won’t find one that has been in business online for fifty years of course, but you will be able to find a company that has been in business that long and that now offers online stock trading.

To be sure, online stock trading is a fantastic opportunity for retirees - but it is not for everyone, the impetuous can lose money quickly. Think carefully before you decide to go for online stock trading, and make sure that you really know what you are doing!

And so, in summary, pensioners can use their extra free time to explore the stock market for nothing by getting leads from newspapers, magazines and news items. These leads can then be followed up by doing online research with the help of a free online stock investing account.

These hunches can then be tracked by using a dummy portfolio. When you have gained sufficient experience, you can go ‘live’ by opening an active online stock investing account.

If you want to know more about online stock investing, just go along to our website Online Stock Investing for Retirees for more information.

categories: retirement,stocks,shares,finance,money,trading,stock market,forex,online,business,computers,home business,retired,other

Exterior Security Lighting For Your Home

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

It is entirely natural that we all want to keep our homes and businesses safe and well protected, but there are many ways in which this can be accomplished. The cheapest and most cost effective way is exterior security lighting

It really is a no brainer, bad lighting can make a home or business a much more attractive target than the house next door because it has less adequate exterior security lighting. Prowlers look for poorly lit points of entry into premises that seem to contain wealth, so when you are designing the security system for your home or business you should try to think like a criminal.

Look at your buildings from the outside, or look at someone else’s first and ask yourself, how you would get in there if you had to. Imagine that you forgot your keys or that there is a serious problem in your property. How would you get in? This is where the criminal gets in and you must learn how to block his every move.

Ten years ago, I lived in a bungalow alone with my small, knee-high dog and armed robbers attacked me in my home, in spite of the fact that I had a reasonable home security system. Do not let it happen to you. My blunder was that I had inadequate exterior security lighting.

They had cut my phone line during the day and because I used a cell phone for most of my calls, I did not realize. Also my dog was sick, but I did not realize that she had been poisoned too. At eleven o’clock at night there was a knock on the front door and I opened it, thinking that it was a neighbour in distress.

A man charged in and over-powered me and the rest was not nice. However, the whole regrettable issue could have been avoided, if I had thought like them..

I was in the routine of drawing the curtains when I got home, so I did not notice that they had removed the bulbs from my exterior security lighting as well.

My advice is to test your exterior security lighting every night when you arrive home and keep the bushes or shrubs cut low around your front and back doors. Make sure that your exterior security lighting is working every evening and make sure that you can see who is buzzing your door bell.

Provide your garden and your doors with plenty of light. Let them be on motion sensors and check who is at your door from a side window that looks out onto the front door. I had a beautiful frosted glass pane in my front door, but that is no use. I could not recognize anyone through it.

Get a panic button fitted by your doors, a big one, so that if you are surprised you can lash out and still hit it and above all make your next door neighbours aware that if your external siren sounds, that you are in danger and that you need assistance immediately. If you are not in trouble, you can always say sorry later.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with home security systems comparison. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

categories: alarm systems,security,home,business,family,home business,home accessories,consumer electronics,elderly care,other,uncategorized,happiness,retirement,interior design

Propane Gas Lanterns

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

There are several types of gas lantern. They are chiefly used to produce light when you do not have a battery light or access to an electrical socket. In fact, they are most often used for emergency situations, when the power goes out at home, when you are camping or sitting in the garden later in the evening. They offer much more light than most torches and they are handy because you can stand them on a table, carry them, or hang them up.

There are quite a few models of gas lantern. However, they vary not only in design, but also in the type of fuel they burn. Some people like the old fashioned style kerosene or paraffin lanterns. They like the design, the historical aspect and possibly even the smell.

Their advantages are that the fuel is low-priced and easy to find. However, their disadvantages are that they smell and are very dangerous if tipped over. The storage of surplus paraffin or kerosene is also a grave risk, should a fire break out.

If you want one of these old design kerosene lanterns, they are widely available at camping, army surplus and hardware shops. If you are going to use them for emergency lighting, it is best to have four or five on hand, clean and ready to fill.

The wicks should be trimmed and the glass clean. Keep them in plastic bags to prevent dust building up on them. Keep one already filled with kerosene so that you can fill the others by its light. It is safer and less wasteful this way.

However, the modern equivalent of the kerosene lantern is the propane gas lantern. Propane gas lanterns burn with a very clean flame, which is also quite hot, so it does warm up its immediate surroundings, maybe to a distance of a foot or two. Therefore, it can keep faces warm on a cool evening in the garden.

Propane gas lanterns are fueled by gas canisters. They come in various sizes from quite small to large, but the gas does burn for a long while. The small canisters are best for emergency use and the larger ones for use on camping trips or in the garden. They are fairly cheap, are clean to burn, provide some heat, are light weight and are very safe.

On the safety side of things, it is clearly very important that you follow the manufacturer’s directions when using any kind of gas lantern, because they are all a latent fire hazard, especially when camping in a wood.

Make yourself acquainted with the operation of the lantern you make your mind up to use before you need to use it. The gas lantern may get hot so be careful with it and get used to lighting it in the daylight so that you know what you are doing, when you must use the gas lantern for real. One last tip, if you are taking a propane gas lantern on a camping holiday, take enough canisters with you. The merchant should be able to tell you how many hours they will last for the use you are going to put them to.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with the propane outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

Are Security Bars A Good Idea?

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

There are many things that families and businesses do in order to safeguard their property. One technique that is often taken in the name of security is the adding of security bars to doors and windows. Despite the inherent benefits of securing property, these bars often create risks of endangering the people inside.

One thing remains accurate, most burglars will keep moving rather than attempt entering into a home that has security bars on doors and windows. Home protection is the only security that these bars provide however for many, the risks involved in having these bars on windows is not worth the small measure of security that is provided. In other words, the good of these bars is really outweighed by the negatives.

A lot of people do not purchase new security bars but rather rely on the same bars that have covered the windows of the home or business for many years. Some of these are rusted and nearly impossible to remove. In emergency situations, every second counts and these bars can be the very things that trap people inside a burning or flooding building.

Security bars are no longer the cheap alternative to traditional alarm systems and monitoring services that they were touted to be in the past. In fact, more often than not the pose a greater risk than they are a benefit to business and homeowners. Many larger businesses offer free fitting of alarm systems and alarms as well as monthly monitoring services at reasonable rates. More significantly not only are these monitoring services available for breaks-in, but also for fire and smoke as well as panic button services.

Security bars may have had a time and place, but they have been supplanted by something that is much more effective at deterring criminals as well as something that offers a greater degree of security for the most precious assets of any home or business - the people inside. The costs concerned in monthly monitoring seem great but most will find that the value this service offers if and when it is ever called upon is well worth every penny.

Options to burglar bars that are not terribly expensive include planting thorny bushes below windows and keeping them trimmed back just enough that they do not block a view of the windows. Most burglars do not want a difficult entry point and they certainly do not want to be wounded during the process by prickly plants. Lighting is another option that is essentially less expensive than it would be to install burglar bars. Intruders do not want to be seen. If the area surrounding your home and business is well lit, it will serve as a deterrent. Investigate options such as this before resorting to security bars.

To answer the question of whether or not security bars are worth the risks for home or business protection the answer would be a loud “No!”. There are other preventative measures that can be taken in order to deter intruders that present far less risk to family members and employees. These alternatives should be implemented rather than those that pose further risks to those you are trying to look after.

Owen Jones, the writer of this writer, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with home security systems comparison. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

Home Security Tips - How To Make Your Home Unappealing To Burglars

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

These days everybody is anxious about the security of their homes and rightly so! According to official American government figures, the number of house burglaries has risen by almost ten percent in the last five years to about fourteen million per year.

That is a great deal of homes. I was burgled ten years ago and I have studied and done my best to never be one of those statistics again. In this article, I will pass on some of my home security tips on how to make your home unappealing to thieves.

The first thing to think about is whether you have anything in your garden, shed or garage that will help a thief get into your house. Things like ladders, crow-bars, screwdrivers, sledge hammers. If you do, then lock them away. Keep the shed and garage doors locked at all times. If you have a ladder that will not fit in the shed or garage, chain and padlock it to a brick wall, so that nobody can use it to get in.

Never believe that your home is less at risk just because you or someone else is inside it. Some thieves are crazy and it is easier to ask someone where the money is than to try to find it yourself. It is easier to demand the keys to the safe than to break the lock. I know. burglars came into my house while I was at work. They saw my safe, but could not get into it, so they came back three nights later when I was at home. It was truly not pleasant.

Do not put a spare front or back door key under the mat, a flower vase or near-by rock. Thieves expect people to do that and it is the first place they look. If you are thinking about leaving a key with a neighbour, pick your neighbour carefully. In fact choose the family carefully. Does the family have teenage kids? If so, could their friends learn that that ’spare key’ is to your house? Do you trust all the friends of that kids? Do you even know them?

Beware of strangers. I do not mean be fearful, but someone needing to make an urgent call because of a ‘breakdown’, could be casing your house or sizing you up. If you want to help, make the call for them or direct them to the nearest public telephone booth or a shop.

Keep all your doors and windows locked. If reasonable locked closed, while you are away from the house, but you can get window-stay locks so that you can lock a fanlight window open a few inches too. This is very helpful in the summer or if you have pets. Lock upstairs windows too - your neighbour may have a loose ladder that a thief can use.

Do not flaunt your valuables needlessly. Video recorders, DVD players and even the TV can be put in cabinets. Jewellery should be put in a box or a safe. Cash the same. Your house is a home, not a presentation case to would be criminals.

My last home security tip to make your home unappealing to burglars is to stay alert and to advise your neighbours of any slip-ups they are making too. If you can raise the general awareness of crime in the people around you, everyone will be a lot safer.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with wired home security systems. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

categories: alarm systems,security,home,business,family,home business,home accessories,consumer electronics,elderly care,other,uncategorized,happiness,retirement,interior design

Garden Deck Or Patio Layout

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

After you have finished buying in your garden patio furniture and you have set it out as you like, it is time to park yourself in one of your new patio chairs with one of your favourite drinks and maybe a pen and paper, and take stock of the state of affairs.

Is your garden patio a bit crowded or do you have plenty of room? Are there other things you would like to have out there? How about plant life? Do you have enough plants and bushes - eye candy? Will you be using it only in the daytime or in the evening or even at night too? Will you need lighting, for example?

This is where your own personal stylishness can be added to your shop bought furniture to make the patio truly your patio. So, if you live in a house that only has a small garden, you might want to think about things that hang rather than things that must be sited on the ground, which will take up walking space.

If you do not have much space, but you want to grow plants with edible fruit such as strawberries or tomatoes, you could get some hanging baskets. You can hang them from bushes or standard lamps or fix them to a boring wall. In the same way, you could grow herbs or other small flowers in a window box which has been fixed to a wall or placed on top of it. Or put shelving up and put boxes and pots on that.

If your patio is too sunny, you could grow sunflowers or put up a trellis or an arbour and grow vines or clematis up it. Bamboo grows quickly too. If it is too shady, plant lots of bright yellow and white flowers and maybe paint the walls white or pink, if you are not keen on glare.

If your garden patio is a much bigger, you could add garden accessories in order to further your enjoyment. For instance, you could build a barbecue area out of stone slabs or bricks. You could add a fountain too. A fountain makes the very soothing sound of running and splashing water and fish are a delight to look at.

For the cooler months, you could build a fireplace, if local bylaws permit or get a patio heater. They are very efficient and can keep a fair radius warm, depending on the ambient temperature.

You will probably need some form of lighting too, if you reckon on spending some evenings on your patio. I suggest a few spotlights to highlight your favourite plants and the fountain and a broader beam light that you can read by. Do not put these lights near where you intend to sit because they will attract flying insects. However, they make a good distraction from you and will keep all but the blood sucking insects away.

For parasites such as mosquitoes, you should have some form of mosquito light. Some are very good and promise to keep a quarter or even half an acre clear of mosquitoes and other such nuisances.

For all these extra accessories you will need power points. Therefore, if you plan your garden with pen and paper like I mentioned at the beginning of this article, then you will be able to show the electrician where you want the points and what-not in your new garden patio layout.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

categories: decks,patios,garden,hobbies,recreation,outdoors,entertainment,relaxation,real estate,landscaping,happiness,retirement,self help,other

Growing Herbals

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Every professional chef and every household cook recognizes the importance of fresh herbs to their gastronomic creations. No diner would quarrel over this either. However, whether you buy your herbs fresh or dried, there are problems. When you buy fresh, you usually have to buy more than you require and they are relatively expensive, whereas, if you buy them dried, they could be old and dried herbs lose their potency over time.

Why then is it that most domestic cooks use fresh or dried herbs from the supermarket? Ease, probably. We lead busy lives and it is easier to get a few boxes of dried herbs at the supermarket along with your groceries than it is to cultivate your own.

Not that it is difficult to raise your own herbs and even spices, but you have to purchase the seeds, plant them and remember to water them. You can minimize the problem of trying to remember to water them quite easily, by growing your herbs in a window box or in trays on your patio or deck, so that you see them every time you take a break on your patio. You will also remember to bring them in if frost looks likely.

If you have children, growing herbs and spices in window boxes or trays can be a good induction to gardening for them. Herbs take very little looking after really, just needing watering every day. They are pretty tough and fertilizer is not necessary as most herbs have a fairly short life. Maybe only a month or two in some cases. Others last a lot longer.

First decide how many varieties you want to grow. How much room do you have for instance? The best way to start is look in your cupboard and see which herbs you use most frequently. Are any of them seeds? You could have a go at sowing these. Look them up in a book or on the Internet.

Sometimes it is better to soak the seeds first before planting them, others do not need this treatment. Second, which herbs have you read about that you would like to use but never seem to have in the house? Try planting those too.

If all that does not sound like fun, then you can buy small herb plants in the garden nurseries. Most of them stock the most common herbs in Spring. Whichever way you go, read up on how to grow the herbs you have selected. I promise you, it will not be a long read, as they really do take care of themselves except for the watering. if you buy seeds rather than seedlings, all the details you need will be on the seed packet and such packets are very cheap to buy.

The advantages of having your own herb garden are manifold, but you will be teaching gardening to your kids or grandkids, you will have fresh herbs for cooking and you will have gorgeous aromas wafting around your patio or deck.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with outdoor heat lamp. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

Home Garden Security Lighting

Friday, March 12th, 2010

One of the most basic steps you can take when building your home security system, is the setting up of garden security lighting. Garden security lighting is also one of the most effective ways of deterring burglars and it is one of the cheapest techniques too. All in all the installation of garden security lighting is the most effective and cost-effective method of home security

Other outdoor security gadgets such as security cameras are much more expensive and only serve one purpose, that is the security of your home. On the other hand, garden security lighting can be used to supply a welcoming light to guide the way to your front door to your visitors or to light up your backyard if you want to sit outside or admire a particularly beautiful group of flowers. They are also good for illuminating a fountain on a pond.

Adding motion sensor lighting controls to your garden security lighting also increases its effectiveness. The passive infra red motion sensors will pick up body heat automatically and switch the light on framing the moving object in a powerful floodlight. Microwave sensors provide a similar function but work on motion. They extend the length of time the bulb will last and reduce electrical use, while ensuring you get light when you need it.

However, if you sit behind drawn curtains in your home at night, you may not see the warning of the lights coming on. Therefore, some of these garden security lighting systems have a built-in bell or buzzer which makes a sound when the light comes on. You can also have them send a signal to your main indoor alarm system control box, which will beep and let you know where the light is that was activated (front, rear or side of the house).

Garden security lighting can also be solar powered. This makes them slightly more expensive to buy but very much cheaper to put in and to run. Some of these lights are permanently fixed to the house’s fascia boards while others are just pressed into the ground. This latter sort are ideal for garden parties that go on into the night, as long as you remember to put them back where they belong before going in.

It is a good plan to aim the motion sensors of the lights some four feet above ground level or they will be switched on by every cat that comes over your fence in the middle of the night. Likewise, you can turn down the sensitivity of the PIR or microwave sensors so that the sensors do not pick up birds like pigeons.

The lights have daylight sensors on them too so that the motion sensors only activate the light at night. Some of these sensors will still register movement in the daytime and report it back to the main unit if you want that.

So, all in all, there are plenty of different options when you are considering home security, but garden security lighting has to come at the top of your list, if you want an effective, reassuring home security system.

Owen Jones, the writer of this writer, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with home security systems comparison. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.