Falling for Fall

September 18, 2012 By

The first day of fall is this weekend, September 22nd (and it’s my birthday!). I love fall. The leaves are changing colors, and the temperature starts to drop. I always get excited to start putting away my summer clothes and pulling out my sweaters and boots. I mean, even though it is still pretty hot in the Fall, a girl can dream!

Fun Fall Fact: The first day of fall is one of two days a year where the north and south halves of the earth face the sun in equal amounts. Which means that there is exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime at the equator on the fall equinox. In fall, the daylight hours become shorter.

As a child, we would always celebrate the season’s changing. For example, on the fall equinox, we would eat foods similar to the colors of fall leaves such as yellow squash, and red peppers. Mom makes homemade pumpkin pies all the way till Christmas.

If you’re hungry for a new season, here are some tasty Fall recipes.

Welcome to Fall, Baton Rouge! Enjoy the new season.

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Document Restoration

September 6, 2012 By

Almost everyone knows how important paperwork is to a business. Documents are fragile, and are usually protected by a filing cabinet. However, imagine if those important documents are drenched by a flood, become infested, or develop smoke odor after a fire? The filing clerk at any office might have a mini panic attack just imagining it!

Luckily, document restoration exists and we know how to do it. If essential documents are damaged, they can usually be restored.

Never heard of document restoration? Many people haven’t, and there aren’t too many companies that offer this service in the state of Louisiana.

I spoke with our document specialist, Bryan Cheskin, and he gave me some great insight on damage causes, how to prepare documents before a disaster, and how we restore documents.

There are many reasons why documents might need to be restored. Roof leaks, tropical storm, hurricanes or tornadoes, pipe or sprinkler discharge, smoke and odor from fire, high humidity, insect or rodent infestation, or air handler leaks are just a few examples.

How to prepare documents for possible damage:

  • Make sure to have an inventory of all important documents. Organize them by record number, name, or both.
  • Know what is in the file folders: paper, film or paintings. Have an approximation of age.
  • Have a rough estimate of the cubic feet that the documents are stored in. (length x width x height = cubic feet)
  • Have scanned copies of all files, and have them on an offsite back up system.
  • Climate controlled storage is always a good idea.
  • Have a professional come in to inspect and help set up a document restoration plan.
  •  Have an alternate site for storage ready if your facility is damaged beyond repair.

Our document restoration process:

  • Determine document damage (water, smoke, mold, etc)
  • Inventory documents to be restored.
  • Pack out documents in the same file order as inventoried.
  • Transport documents to our climate controlled facility.
  • Restore:

- Wet Documents: set up to dry in drying chambers

- Smoke Damage: set up documents in our onsite ozone room.

- Mold Damage: set up in drying chamber to freeze dry, HEPA vacuum, and then disinfect.

  • Pack documents up for delivery in same order as received.
  • Transport documents to facility or owner.
  •  Unpack onto shelving in original order while checking documents off of inventory list.

We know how important documents can be to a business, and just the thought of losing all our valuable paperwork makes me cringe.  Plan for the worst, and hope for the best. Prepare your documents for a possible catastrophic event, and sleep easy.

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Here Comes Isaac

August 27, 2012 By

Tropical storm Isaac is on the way and what it might bring and to where is still unclear and most of the state of Louisiana is under a hurricane or tropical storm warning. If you haven’t done so already, then now is a better time than any to start getting things ready. For my first hurricane, I was far from prepared. I got things together towards the end, but this year I started a little earlier.

GOHSEP has some great resources for preparing a business or a family for incoming severe weather. GOHSEP has check lists that will be handy for making sure we prepare helpful items for a power outage, or other events.

The American Red Cross is another great resource for what to do before and after a storm. The American Red Cross and GOHSEP, “Get a Game Plan” both have smartphone app’s to help with preparing, too.  I made sure to browse the app market for new weather apps, because my weather app was very helpful during my last hurricane experience.

General preparedness:

  • Secure items that are outdoors such as tables, chairs, and potted plants.
  • Get cash
  • Fill up the car
  • Gather important documents and put them into a water proof packaging (ex. large ziplock bag)
  • Restock the pantry with nonperishable foods and make sure to have plenty of water
  • Batteries, candles, and flashlights

These are all things that I have done to prepare my family, but I still plan on using the GOHSEP checklist when I get home. Their checklist reminded me that I need to buy more batteries!

While no one likes to think about it, it is also a good idea to have a plan in place for emergency services in the event of damage to a home. Guarantee Service Team of Professionals is a good phone number to have in case Isaac is powerful enough to do any home damage.

Our services include:

  • Water damage repairs
  • Mold remediation
  • Emergency board up (after the storm has passed)
  • Wind damage from fall limbs or other objects
  • Fire damage repairs
  • Pre-storm board up of windows and doors

We will be available for any of these services after the storm has passed. We are prepared to help restore homes back to normal after any unexpected damage.

If you find yourself in need of any of our services please don’t hesitate to call (225) 753-8682 or visit us at www.stopguarantee.com.

Please be safe everyone! We are hoping for the best, but we are prepared for the worst and we are here to help.

 

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Additional tips to prepare a business for severe weather:

  • Make sure all data is backed up off site either on a “cloud” or another external storage device
  • Create a master data sheet with employe home and cellphone numbers. See if employees have unlimited text messages. Sometimes text messages can be received even when phone lines aren’t available.
  • Place small electronics into Tupperware or other water proof containers
  • Ensure that all paperwork is protected by some kind of water proofing (plastic bags, Tupperware, etc.)
  • 24 hours before the storm change the business voice mail and social media message to let customers know the status of the business.
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Restoring the Norm

August 16, 2012 By

After disasters most of our customers are understandably more concerned about their family and their home. They usually aren’t thinking about specific possessions. While we are packing up the contents of the house, we make sure to ask the customer about any special items to practice extreme care with when handling or if there is anything sentimental that they want us to try our best to restore. Chances are, that if we don’t ask customers these questions, then they will never tell us about those special items or that the dining table has one loose leg.

This is one of the many ways that we try to help return the normal to our customers after we finish their home repair. While we are completing their home restoration, we can keep the customer’s items in our on-site climate controlled storage warehouse to ensure the safety of their valuables. Also, we store the items in a way that we know exactly where everything is. For example, if a customer needs a baseball mitt for their son’s baseball playoff, then we are able to pull that item out in time for the big game.

Our staff is trained to take on large projects like gutting and reconstruction of a house after a flood and smaller projects such as cleaning and deodorizing a rocking horse that was covered in soot from a house fire.  Regardless the size of the project, we put the same care and attention into the work we do.

Rocking Horse Before & After


We take pride in our damage repairs and bringing the “norm” back to our customers.

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Phone Stack

August 14, 2012 By

I’ll admit that I am guilphone stackty of being distracted by work emails or text messages during what is supposed to be a nice night out. It’s hard to go out with friends, family, or the significant other without having some kind of technology diversions. Texting, Facebook, Twitter, or emails are a few of the hobbies starting to get in the way of old fashioned face-to-face conversations.

To reduce smartphone temptation while out with my friends we play a game called “phone stack”. We usually play this game while at a restaurant but it works for dinner parties, too.

Here are the rules:

  • Everyone must place their phone in the middle of the table in a stack with the ringer on (silencing the phone counts as cheating).(will use a photo of stacked phones on dinner table)
  • No one is allowed to touch their phone until everyone is finished eating/drinking and the bill in on the table. (Dinner party: table cleared, instead of bill)
  • IF someone cannot resist the urge to check their phone then that person has to pay the bill. (Dinner party: that person must cook next time, or bring drinks. Make the consequence work for the group.)

The game is simple, but from experience the person in the newest relationship is usually the first to cave in and grab their phone.

Try it out at your next gathering and you’ll be surprised to see how much fun it is to get back into the conversation.

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Keep Cool with Cold Food

August 9, 2012 By

AHeat Mapugust has arrived and here in the South it’s well-known that August is usually the hottest month of the summer.  Now, I have the luxury of working in an air conditioned office, but most of the men in my life work in these extreme outdoor conditions. I often “nag” them about wearing sunscreen, and drinking tons of water.

Regardless of all of my nagging, and their obedience, I still worry. The sun can really take a toll on a person. However, there is still work that has to be done outside regardless of the temperature.

Besides drinking lots of water, and wearing sunscreen there are plenty of ways to protect your body during this end of the summer heat. Whether its yard work, a day trip to the beach or outdoor labor here are some tips to help beat the heat:

  • Carry a spray bottle filled with water. We have a small spray bottle with a fan attached; it’s pretty refreshing on a hot day.
  • My construction working family members say that the worst feeling when working hours outdoors in the heat is to transition from inside and then back outside. Keeping the body a consistent temperature really helps. Fight the urge to feel the A/C breeze; it’ll only confuse the body.
  • Eat cool food. Warm foods are delicious, but can raise the body’s temperature. Pack a cold sandwich and fruit to help cool off from the inside.
  • Take a break when you start feeling any symptoms of dehydration, heat stroke, or just when the impact of the sun becomes too exhausting.

 

I love having comfort in knowing that my loved ones practice these tips to protect themselves from the unforgiving sun during the hottest month of the summer.

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Resources for understanding the impact of the sun:

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Too Much Pizza?

August 7, 2012 By

Let’s all be honest with ourselves, the last two things we want to do after a long day’s work is cook and clean. The cleaning is something that can be delegated to a local service provider or the kids but I can’t imagine the expense of having a live in chef. An effortless go-to meal at my house is pizza; it’s not the healthiest thing, especially three nights in a row.

However, if I told you that there are tons of meals that can be easily prepared would you get a little more excited about fixing dinner?

First, my dinner superhero is my crockpot. I usually try to prepare all the ingredients that I can the night before. Some recipes even allow me to put everything in the crockpot’s removable dish and store it in the fridge until morning. I simply switch it on, go to work and by the time I come home dinner is ready. Crockpot meal possibilities are nearly endless. There are tons of delicious recipes that can be prepared almost effortlessly. My favorite crockpot meal is chicken enchilada casserole. Allrecipes.com is my go-to site because of their large slow cooker recipe collection.

If you are slow cooker-less, don’t fret! There are plenty of fast recipes that will have dinner served in no time. Tasty25 Magazine prides themselves on providing healthy meal ideas that can be prepared in 25 minutes or less. They even share user submitted recipes, so you can be sure that their meal database is always growing. They don’t only provide recipe ideas; their website has a lot of diet related cooking tips too.

In case you were worried about never eating pizza again, here is a healthy homemade spin on pizza night from Tasty25. Pizza will always have a spot in my weekly meal plan, but I’m happier when it is guiltless.  Housework can be done on the weekends; dinner is an everyday thing in my house.

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Man-made Recipes

August 2, 2012 By

With the box of mMan Chefac n’ cheese in his hand, my significant other will ask me how to prepare it. Sometimes I wonder if he even knows that the directions are printed on the box. While he isn’t the greatest in the kitchen, he does have his specialties:  fried eggs, and bowls of cereal. I don’t ever have to worry about him starving, but sometimes I wish he could cook something other than breakfast.

After searching “Recipes for Men” on Google, I found that I am not the only woman that has a man that is hopeless in the kitchen.

First, a few tips for the kitchen beginners. This has a lot of good advice for someone completely unfamiliar in the kitchen (my guy).

Esquire Magazine has a large collection of man-made recipes . Some of these dishes aren’t for beginners, but with practice, anything is possible. Giant meatballs and spaghetti sauce, without noodles? I think my guy can handle that!

Man Tested Recipes is a recipe resource that is all about meat, game day foods, and BBQ. The recipes are categorized in a way that is easily navigated by a man’s cravings. This webpage looks like it might inspire and challenge some new cooks.

There is no doubt that I will share these websites with the boyfriend. Hopefully he will master mac n’ cheese and move on to bigger and better things in the kitchen.  If you’re lucky enough to have a chef in your life, maybe you have a Man-Made recipe you can share with my chef to be.

 

*Photo credit to Wellness Online.

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Why Didn’t I Think of This?

July 31, 2012 By

I am constantly being presented with life changing ideas that always have me questioning myself, “Why didn’t I think of this?” Here are a few samples from our Pinterest.

Removing a key has never been easier.

A simple flip flop fix.

Reduced noise shoe drying.

Feel free to share any of your simple solutions to everyday problems!

 

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Braver Than a Fifth Grader

July 26, 2012 By

The last time I visited my niece and nephews in Houston, while watching them wrestle outside, I stumbled upon an article about a 5th grade boy saving his family from their burning home. As I looked across the back yard, it hit me, would these three kids know how to react during a fire? Are my niece and nephews as brave as this 5th grader?

After some vigorous online research, I found some great advice on preparing kids for a possible fire. The idea of a house fire would have given my sensitive niece nightmares, so finding advice on how to introduce the idea without terrifying her and her brothers was vital.  Nick Jr. had the best relatable information on fire causes and importance of having a plan (link).

It was suggested by a friend that I contact the local fire station and inquire about a tour of the facility. The moment we walked through the garage doors there were all sorts of safety equipment for them to see and ask questions about.  The firemen on duty were very patient with the kid’s curious questions (my nephew asked if the fire engine was a transformer). The kids received an interactive fire safety speech that ended with Q&A’s.

On our way home, I asked them what they had learned, and what they’d do if there is a fire. I was blown away with their answers. They learned a lot, and had a fantastic time. At home, we worked together on developing a plan. They loved being involved in creating something important for the whole family.

I am much more confident now that they’ll react as quickly as the brave 5th grader did when he awoke to a fire in his home.

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You can request a visit from firefighters to a school or schedule a tour at a station in Baton Rouge by submitting this form.

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