Comming soon !!! all new Inquiries section
- Date: May 9, 2012
Check it out!!! The ability to inquire about your ticket with out having to pickup the phone, anytime of the day or night
June 2012 Training Calendar now available !
- Date: May 2, 2012
June 2012 Training Calendar now available !
May 2012 Training Calendar now Available !
- Date: March 28, 2012
May 2012 Training Calendar now available !
April 2012 Training Calendar now available !
- Date: March 14, 2012
April 2012 Training Calendar now available !
Spring Cleaning
- Date: March 13, 2012
Spring Cleaning
Have we had enough of Old Man Winter? I don’t know about you, but I’m in full denial. To help the weather along I’ve started my spring routine. You know, clean the yard (at least the parts I can see), sort and clean all that winter stuff before storing it, and start looking for all that summer gear I’m hoping to make use of soon. This brings us to the cleaning part, what do you use to “clean stuff”. Well, that depends on what you are cleaning. If it is the barbeque and you didn’t clean it before you put it to bed last fall you might need a fairly serious cleaner.
Using chemicals to help clean makes the task much easier and generally gets the thing cleaner. When selecting a cleaning product I look for a few things beyond how well it cleans. Is the product corrosive, poisonous, damaging to plastics or the surface I’m cleaning? The product I would select is the one that is the least corrosive or poisonous, least environmentally damaging and safest for me (does not require specialized personal protective equipment) to use. The good news is there are a swack of great cleaning products that work very well and still do a great job.
Now that you have a lot of the stuff off your storage shelves, before you put the winter gear up, take a few minutes to look the shelves over. Are the shelves starting to bow (bend due to excessive weight), if they are now would be the time to install bracing or have them replaced. Fix them before they fail, this prevents you from getting buried and you nice stuff from getting damaged. When you load all that winter gear a rule of thumb to follow is place the heaviest objects and boxes on the bottom and the lighter stuff up top. It’s easier on you and helps keep the shelving stable, if you over load and overbalance the shelving could collapse or tip over.
When sorting through the summer gear, check it for damage and take care of the damage or cleaning as necessary. Better to do that now than to discover the mice chewed up your tent while you are at the lake. Once done, unless you are immediately heading out to the lake, where do you put your summer stuff? Select a spot that is not “in the way”, like blocking where you walk. Commonly used items like golf clubs, fishing gear, bicycles, etc. should be kept where it can be easily accessed. Less used gear like camping supplies, canoes, etc should be stored out of the way but still accessible. This maintains traffic routes in and out of the storage area to we can get to and safely remove the items we want.
Are you looking at that lawn tractor/mower yet? While you probably aren’t serious about needing it yet it is a good time to do the spring maintenance. Read the manufacturer’s directions and follow them. Generally, check the fluid levels, belts, tires, filters and blades. The manufacturer will indicate which can be repaired/sharpened/cleaned and what you will need to replace to make your equipment function safely. Doing this now avoids using it when it’s not in good condition.
Hey, if the weather really clears up the grass might need a trim. Before running the mower through that yard, take a walk. Check for branches, rocks pushed up by frost and debris. This will save a lot of wear and tear on your equipment and make that first pass a lot more enjoyable. Look for standing water or buckets and tubs that have filled up. You can cut down on the mosquitoes by emptying them and protect children at the same time. Children leaning into them fall in head down and get trapped, cover the rain barrels.
Here’s hoping Old Man Winter is heading out of town until next fall.
Bringing Home Baby
- Date: March 13, 2012
Are you ready for your bundle of joy?
I recently learned that friends may be with child. Wow, am I happy for them. My wife and I have two, the younger just starting to walk. That got me to thinking of all the adjustments we had to make in lifestyle, housekeeping habits and adapting our home for little ones. We got the standard advice, found a lot of good information on the internet and occasionally, we got some great tips. I’d like to pass along some of the best I’ve heard and found for “getting ready for the little folks”.
You’ve done the run to the hospital, “mom” is now really a mom, you get a day or two at the hospital and then, can you believe it, they trust you enough to take that fragile ball of goo home with you. I do remember how amazing having a new born in the house is. Many visits from doting relatives and friends, a complete disruption to our sleep with multiple night feedings and helping our daughter adapt to life with a younger brother. Oh, did I mention the absence of sleep. We already had our house “Kid friendly” for our daughter, but she’s four now. We had to go back and look at everything all over again. My best advice is, do this before the birth. After the birth sleep becomes a very precious commodity which you may have very little of. With this in mind let’s start taking a look at some of the stuff you’ll want to get done.
Buy those little plastic electrical outlet inserts. This prevents toddlers form learning about electricity the nasty way. Once you’ve got them, plug them into every outlet that is not in use. In the same section of the store will be cupboard door latches, drawer latches and toilet lid latches. Follow the manufacture’s directions to install them properly. This will save you many hours of trying to fish inappropriate objects out of the plumbing.
Now, let’s tackle the stairs, windows and doors. All stairs should have gates at the top and the bottom, this is especially important for any stairs you use regularly as you may miss closing the door. Many types of gates are available, my preference is for the accordion type that attach to eye bolts. They are very secure when installed properly and can be operated one handed (a nice touch when you have a baby in the other arm). Take a walk through your home and check out how much furniture will provide an excellent path to windows for your new child. While they may not be moving much right away, that changes very fast. Where necessary, rearrange furniture to prevent it from being used to get to and possibly out windows. Falls (stairs and windows) are the leading cause of emergency room visits for children under 9 years of age. For the doors, the most effective child stopping device I’ve found is those door handle covers you have to squeeze to open the door. Certain rooms young children should never be in unsupervised, for example: the bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, utility room or any room you do not want something broken. Many of these rooms have dangerous chemicals, sharp objects, potential fire sources or hordes of little things they can choke on. Do yourself a favor and just keep the door closed.
One last check to see if your home is really ready. Get down on your hands and knees and crawl around. Get a kids eye view of your home and see what they are going to get into. This works really well. Some of the things you’ll spot are sharp corners on coffee tables (pad them up, water pipe insulation works well), extension cords (they get pulled on and junior gets clobbered by the lamp), narrow spots between furniture and walls they could get caught in. If you get into it, it’s kind of fun and you get your first glimpse into what they are going to see when you get them home.
The more of this you get done before bringing your spouse and the new addition home, the more you will be able to enjoy those wonderful little cat naps.
Congratulations, the sleep you give up to have them is made up for by what they bring into your life.
Update on delayed ENFORM tickets/certification
- Date: March 1, 2012
To Whom It May Concern,
RE: delay in ENFORM tickets/certification
Late last month I sent a letter out explaining Enform has switched to a new internal computerized
system for creation and distribution of tickets.
Unfortunately, like with any new system, they have found a few bugs and this has created a lag
time in processing paperwork
CANSAFE has been in touch with Enform different times regarding some tickets not yet received
for October and November classes. We have been assured they are coming but they aren’t sure
when as there is a tremendous back-log of paperwork.
Unfortunately, this means there will be students out there with expired temporary tickets. Until we
receive permanent tickets from Enform that we can pass on we have a letter prepared that all
students can take to site. If you require a letter, please call our office with the name of the student
and class date of the course.
I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.
In the meantime should you have any questions please feel free to contact our office at 306-825-
8845 or Dwayne Arneson, Quality Assurance Program Manager, at Enform at 780-955-6079.
Janice Unrau,
General Manager
CANSAFE Inc.
March Quote
- Date: February 7, 2012
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them !!!