Something millions of us take for granted, garbage disposals, used to be illegal! A garbage disposal until is an electric powered device installed under the kitchen sink between the drain and the drain trap and used to shred food particles into pieces small enough to pass through plumbing and into the general septic system.

How to Remove a Knockout Plug

If you ever replace your garbage disposal and you or the service man forgets to remove the knockout plug, you may find your dishwasher isn’t draining. Or, you may get a new dishwasher and find it isn’t draining. (You must have a garbage disposal to have a dishwasher, by the way.) The fix is simple. Remove the knock out plug on the garbage disposal. See the video below for how to do that.

How to Remove a Spoon, Bottle cap, Twist Tie or Other Item From Disposal

Sure, the temptation to reach down into a jammed disposal and just remove that bottle cap, spoon or twist tie is great, but don’t do it. Use a pair of tongs, like you’d use to turn meat on a grill, or to pull bottles out of a canning bath. If you don’t have tongs and absolutely have to remove an item by hand:

• Shut off the circuit breaker to the unit first.
• Test the switch to make sure it’s off, and then put the switch in the off position.
• Using tongs or pliers, remove the item and then turn the breaker back on.
• Test to make sure you got the entire jam.

Maintained properly your garbage disposal will last a long, long time.

The primary cause of kitchen fires is the improper use of a pot or frying pan to cook french fries. That boiling oil is also one of the most common reasons for home injuries, sometimes so severe it can cause death.

A former executive director of the Institute for Burn Medicine for San Diego and Imperial Counties felt so strongly about grease fires and their deadly potential that when a friend sent him the following video he posted it on YouTube as a warning to California residents.

In an open letter attached to the video he wrote:

“A friend recently sent me the following video … it is well worth watching! And it could save your life. This is very stunning — please read first and then watch the very short clip.
I never realized that a wet dishcloth could be a one-size-fits-all lid to cover a fire in a pan!”

What happens:

At the Fire Fighting Training School an instructor in proper fire gear uses an 8-ounce cup at the end of a 10-foot pole to pour water onto a grease fire. The water, being heavier than oil, sinks to the bottom of the pan, where it becomes instantly superheated. When water is superheated, it turns into steam. The explosive force of the steam blows the burning oil up and out. Once outside the pan, the fire becomes a 30-foot-high fireball that resembles a nuclear blast. The fireball hits the walls and ceiling of the kitchen and fills the entire room!

But it’s not only water that can cause such an explosion. Sugar or flour is just as explosive as water. Water, sugar or flour on a burning grease fire has the explosive force of two sticks of dynamite. Don’t believe the description. Watch the video.

What you SHOULD do in the event of a fire in a skillet or pan:

• Slide a pot lid or metal baking sheet over the burning pot.
  Turn off the burner, whether it is gas or electric. If you can’t reach the stove because of flames, turn off the power at the breaker box.
• Do NOT attempt to move the pan off of the burner, or to move the pan at all. Even a slight motion can fan the flames and cause the fire to spread.
• Call 911 and report a kitchen fire and your address including your apartment number, if applicable.
• If the fire is still burning around the lid, or if you don’t have a lid or baking sheet, wet a dish rag or towel thoroughly and wring it out until it is damp, but NOT wet. Lay the damp dish towel over the pan, covering the pan entirely. If you don’t cover it all, get another towel and repeat the process. Allow the pan to cool off completely.
• If other items are involved in the fire, such as curtains, cabinets, etc., get out. Do not try to fight the fire. Make sure everyone is out of the house and wait a safe distance outside the house until firefighters arrive.
• In case of an oven fire, turn off the power and allow the fire to cool. Have the oven inspected for damage before using it again.

Fires move fast. They can fully engulf a room in an average house in 1-3 minutes. Burning fires can create pressure and blow out windows, killing or maiming anyone close to them. Fires can also burn through wires and short-circuit power in the house, potentially causing electrocution or additional fire hazards.

You have only seconds, a minute or two at most, to decide whether to fight a fire or run. The decision you make can save or destroy you and those you love. Make it quickly and wisely. Don’t be a hero. Leave the firefighting to firefighters.

Several years ago I furnished my mother’s apartment for her. I needed a place to store my excess things while I was out of state and living with a friend, and my mom had just lost her furniture to burst water pipes and no insurance. She’s elderly and loved my furniture, so it worked out for us both — until she developed dementia and the courts appointed a guardian to care for her.

The court-appointed guardian sold all of my furniture because I had no proof it was mine. My mother’s mental capacities were too far-gone to explain the situation. When it came time to furnish my next apartment, I had nothing and had to live with the knowledge everything I owned had been sold out from under me.

The simple act of photographing the furniture, having a signed agreement and then putting my name and contact information on a label or sticker on the back or bottom of the furniture would have resolved the issue in a matter of minutes. As it was, I lost everything when mother was moved to a nursing home.

There are other ways you can lose your favorite items:

• Divorce
• Death
• Medical necessity (nursing home or health care etc)
• Roommate split
• Family squabble over an item
• Breaking up with boyfriend/girlfriend
• Fire, flood or natural disaster

It’s hard to remember or prove who paid for what when you’re going through a breakup or move of any kind. Furniture is one thing, but cookware, CDs, DVDs, video games, books, knick knacks, tools — sometimes even clothing and shoes — and other things you don’t think twice about until someone else says they’re theirs, can become very important really fast.

Good thing the world is digital. All you need to do when you buy a new item is sign the receipt, scan it or take a photo of it WITH the item in the same photo, and upload your files to a free photo account online. Store the paper receipt in a file as well, but know that your items are safe online too.

If you’re going away to college, moving in with a roommate, girlfriend or boyfriend/ or getting married, it’s a smart thing to do all this before you actually move in.

The next step is to buy some good labels or a permanent marker and/or an engraving pen. If you can’t afford an engraving pen, check with the neighborhood watch group of your local police department. They will often loan you one of theirs (you’ll have to leave a driver’s license or deposit, which you’ll get back when you return the pen). Take time to etch your name and a phone number or email address somewhere on the item. Don’t use your Social Security number in case you later sell or give the item away. Chances are you’ll forget to scratch it out and then your SSN will be out in the world for the taking.

Sure, you’ll feel like you’re 10 years old and going away to summer camp with your name on everything, but you’ll be glad you did it if you ever have a bad breakup. You don’t have to write your name on all your clothing. You can sew on a button or small bead in a seam or someplace to let you know it’s yours without announcing to the world it is.

If you are storing, loaning or giving furniture to a family member, particularly an adult child, be sure and spell out the gift in a contract and have it notarized, especially if there are other family members who might object if they find out about the gift. Death often brings out the drama in families, and this will prevent family members of accusing another of stealing an item you gave away before you passed on.

There’s nothing wrong with being clear and matter-of-fact about whose stuff is whose, and it’s easiest to do this when you first get the items, or first move in. The problems come up when you are upset and can’t remember, or when you’re in the middle of a domestic dispute, or you’re arguing about other things. To prevent that headache before it happens, keep track of things as you get them.

Anyone living paycheck-to-paycheck knows they’re probably just 30 to 60 days away from being homeless if a major life event happens. That event could be the loss of a job, a major illness, losing a vehicle to a crash or major repairs they can’t afford to make, to suffering the loss of outside financial support. If you’re a single parent who depends on the income from child support, a welfare check or alimony, losing those extra funds can definitely cause severe financial stress. And if you need that money to pay rent, it can lead to the loss of your apartment and potential homelessness as well.

Ideally everyone should have enough money in savings to cover three to six months of living expenses in case something does happen. That’s not always easy, even in a better economy — in this economy, full of pay cuts, unpaid furloughs and inflation, it can be impossible. Even with that much in savings, a medical crisis or transportation issues can empty the account in days. If you find it hard to put the money in savings because you tend to take it out, then work toward paying your most critical bills in advance.

I now stay a month ahead on my rent and utility bill so I have breathing room should a crisis arise. When I first moved into my current apartment, I also paid the last month’s rent as a kind of extra deposit, even though my landlord didn’t require it. When I got the flu last year and couldn’t work and couldn’t bill clients (I have my own business at home), I got behind. Eventually I was five days late paying the rent. Having the built-in cushion paid off — I wasn’t really late because I had paid ahead and therefore didn’t have to worry about any late fees.

Because I’ve now paid those bills in advance I know I have my 60-to-90-day window in case something happens. I like seeing bills come in with “0” due because my credit covers that month. The amount of interest I lose on all that money is less than $5 a year, a small price to pay for peace of mind.

You can always eat at a church that operates a soup kitchen, at homeless shelters or survive on noodles and peanut butter, but it’s hard to get another apartment once you’ve lost yours or, worse, been evicted. It’s better to move out and live in your car than to have an eviction notice on your credit report, so do everything in your power to avoid eviction.

Work with your landlord. He doesn’t want to have to go in and clean and prep an apartment and have it sit empty for several months if there’s any way he can avoid it. So, if you’ve been a good tenant, communicated your concerns and worked with him to establish a plan, you have a good chance of staying in your apartment and weathering a crisis. However, if you know that there’s no way you’re going to be able to keep your apartment, don’t wait until the last minute to start considering your options.

Your options could be:

• Taking in a roommate
• Sub-leasing and living with friends
• Moving out and living with friends or family
• Living in your car
• Buying a used RV or trailer and moving into a campground
• Throwing a fundraiser (good if you’re losing the apartment due to medical bills)
• Finding a second or even a third job
• Having a yard sale
• Getting rid of cable or any extra services you don’t need to survive.
• Looking for a cheaper place while you still have your current place (it’s much easier to find an apartment when you have an apartment.)

Start contacting your local social service agencies. They won’t help you if you have cable or other extras that you could cut, like gym memberships. If you’re going to look for help, turn off your cable and other services (not your utilities or gas!) you don’t need first.

Appeal to local agencies, church groups and food banks to save money on food so you can keep your apartment. It’s much, much, much more expensive and difficult to get back into an apartment if you’ve been homeless, so hold onto the apartment at all costs!

If you try everything and you can’t find friends, family, a cheaper apartment or any other place to go, you’re probably facing homelessness. If so, while you still have an address that can be verified:

• Get a membership at the YMCA (many offer sliding scale fees with proof of income); it will give you a place to shower and store basic items, like a towel and a change of clothes, in a locker.
• Have a yard sale and get rid of everything you can. Use the money you raise to buy a van, truck or small RV you can live in. Paying $300 a month to store things you can’t use and won’t need is crazy. You can replace all that when you’re back on your feet. Your primary concern now is shelter and a way to remain employable (shower, clean clothes and the appearance of NOT being homeless).
• Rent a Post Office box. The smallest box possible is all you need, but you can’t rent one without a verifiable address.
• If you have a laptop, netbook or smartphone, hang onto them because you’ll need them to use the Internet to do job searches and get email
• You must have a phone number so potential employers or friends can reach you; if your current service is too expensive, get a prepaid service; pay-by-the-minute may look more expensive per minute than other services, but if you are ruthless about staying off the phone except to contact possible employers or in an emergency, you can cut your bill to $10 or $20 a month.

Being homeless won’t be easy, but remember, YOU are not your circumstances. Thousands of people have been homeless and gone on to become successful. Statistically speaking, most people are only homeless 30 to 60 days before things turn around for them. Some stay on the streets much longer. Don’t give into alcohol, drugs or despair if you do find yourself out on the street. Others have gotten through it and so can you.

When my cat ran out the door, I ran after her. I found her on the neighbor’s back porch, perched on the top of three or four large bags of cat litter. There was nothing too unusual about that except that the neighbors didn’t have a cat. I didn’t think much of it until the normally calm neighbor, triggered by seeing me on her porch, screamed at me to get off of her property. She later posted all kinds of no trespassing signs all over the outside of the house and taped up black plastic garbage bags on the inside of her windows.

I learned later that lots of bags of cat litter (used in processing meth) when no one owns a cat, paranoia, aggression and concern about neighbors being on and around the property and the act of covering up windows, are all signs of a meth lab.

Over the next few days I smelled something sweet, like cotton candy or ether, drifting in through an open window. That was when I knew. My neighbor was cooking methamphetamine, an illegal drug that is easy to manufacture from basic household chemicals. Yes. I called police and eventually the neighbor was caught, but the house was never, to my knowledge, decontaminated. While that’s not uncommon, it can be deadly serious to your health if you end up renting in a contaminated house or apartment.

People can set up a meth lab out of a backpack, but they often manufacture it where they live, including in apartments. Experts say that contamination caused by the toxic chemicals used to make meth can last more than a decade and it only takes one round of cooking, less than four hours, to contaminate a property.

The problem with ignoring meth-cooking neighbors and deciding to “live and let live,” means you’re at risk for organ failure, blindness, chemical burns on internal organs from breathing the air or just by being in the vicinity and even death. About the only thing worse than living near an apartment where meth is being cooked, is moving into a house or apartment where meth was being cooked.

The residue in a house or apartment used as a meth lab can make people sick within hours of moving in. Most people attribute the nausea, headaches and eye and skin irritation to allergies, not exposure to meth.

Signs a math lab may have been present in a home:

1. Yellow discoloration on walls, drains, sinks and showers.
2. You experience burning in your eyes, an itchy throat, or a metallic taste in your mouth.
3. You may also experience breathing problems when in the home.
4. In homes with propane tanks or fire extinguishers, look for blue discoloration on the valves of the tanks. Metal, especially brass fittings, such as those in a bathroom or around a sink, may also be rusted.
5. Trash around the home may include soda bottle with holes and/or tubing sticking out of them, or one-gallon plastic gas cans around the house, in the basement or in storage areas.
6. Fire detectors have had batteries removed, are missing completely, or have been taped off.
7. You may smell strong odors in the house that smell more like things you’d find in a garage, such as solvent and paint thinner.
8. There is a strong odor of ammonia that make you think of cat litter, even though the former owners didn’t have animals.
9. The former tenant’s power bills may be markedly higher than the bills of other units in the complex. Ask your power or utility company if the bills for your unit have been substantially higher than other units in the complex before you rent.

Even though about 20 states have laws requiring meth contamination cleanup of apartments and homes, some landlords may not be aware the home was used for cooking meth unless the occupants were arrested, caught in the act or caused a fire or explosion. Even one incident of cooking meth in an apartment or house is enough to contaminate the home.

Several years ago, the Associated Press reported that Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) records that they obtained showed evidence that nearly 2,000 motels and hotel rooms had been used as meth labs during a five-year period. Those were only the rooms reported to the DEA by their owners, so the numbers are probably far greater.

Not all landlords are anxious to ensure that their properties are drug free before renting. They may paint over yellowed walls or replace the carpet, but effective cleanup can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. Just testing a home can cost between $2,000 and $20,000. Cleaning and decontamination costs go even higher. Wallboard must be replaced and extensive replacement of other items like insulation, carpet, carpet padding, ceiling tiles and even flooring are often necessary to clean up the home to meet standards.

Don’t think just low-income homes and apartments are at risk. Upscale homes and apartment complexes can also be meth labs. Trust your instincts — if something feels, smells or just seems off when you tour a rental, find another rental.

If you’ve lived in an apartment complex for any amount of time, chances are you’ve seen, or at least heard about, a dumpster fire.

The most common causes of dumpster fires are:

• Charcoal or ashes from barbeque grills
• Smoldering wood from fireplace ashes
• Arson — any deliberately set fires — set as a prank or to cause damage
• Homeless people trying to get warm
• Spontaneous combustion
• Unextinguished cigarettes
• Exploding cigarette lighters
• Children playing with matches
• Toxic chemicals that combine to start a fire
• Batteries, even commonly used AA or AAA batteries, touching in trash and causing a current and/or sparks

The response of most people to a fire is to watch. But notice, however, that firefighters are wearing full respiratory gear while battling these fires, no matter how small. It’s not just policy. Dumpsters are full of highly toxic materials that give off deadly gases when they’re burning. Things like plastic bags, disposable foam cups and plates, packing material, paint cans, household chemicals and other things can burn or explode and can even cause damage to surrounding structures.

What You Should Do

• If you go out to the dumpster and see or smell smoke, call 911 immediately. Do not open the lid or doors, and do not try to fight it yourself.
• Don’t breathe the fumes in the air around a dumpster fire. If the smoke is wafting into your apartment, close the windows and doors and tape off openings where the smoke is coming in. Then leave the apartment complex and return after the fire is extinguished.
• If your car is parked near a dumpster and there is a fire, move it or you may find it towed or damaged! Firefighters have the right to push a vehicle aside or have it towed if it is blocking access to a fire. The car could be damaged by being pushed out of the way or by flames and sparks from the fire itself. So, try not to park near the dumpsters if you can help it.
• Even though most fires are safely extinguished, local fire marshals will still investigate the fire to determine the cause. If they can use security camera video, witnesses or other evidence to figure out who started the fire, either deliberately or accidentally, then that person could be responsible for the cost and clean up of the fire damage. Make sure you’re not one of those whose actions inadvertently cause a fire.
• Don’t dump the charcoal or wood from a barbeque or wood fire into the dumpster without ensuring there are no smoldering embers. If you’re not willing to run your bare hands through the ashes, you know there’s a chance the embers are still smoldering.
• Don’t throw cigarettes into a dumpster without ensuring they are extinguished. Grind them out on the ground before tossing them into a dumpster. Better yet, dunk them in the last drops of a soda or can of water, or a puddle, before tossing them.
• Kids play with matches. They always have and always will. If you see kids hanging out around the apartment complex’s dumpsters, report them to the management. They’d rather chase the kids away than deal with a dumpster fire.
• Report suspicious activity to your landlord. Arsonists often start off with dumpster fires and progress to apartments, sheds and larger structures.

Deliberately setting a dumpster fire isn’t a prank. It could cost you, a stranger or a firefighter their lives. The life you save could be yours!

Friends of mine just headed for the Bahamas for three months. They’re house-sitting while a friend of theirs is in Europe setting up a new company. They’re happy to leave their apartment in the capable hands of a younger sibling who has been living in their parents’ basement since graduation earlier this summer.

They have the perfect network of trusted friends and family to make extended house-sitting work for them. But what happens if you’ve got to go overseas, or cross country, or take care of an out-of-state family member for a week or longer? Who can you get to house-sit, or should you even bother?

If you have plants or pets, and don’t have trusted friends available to watch your home, you might want to consider hiring a professional house sitter. Not only will your plants thank you, but your pet will do better while you’re gone for an extended period if they are at least staying in familiar surroundings. If you’re going to be gone for more than a few days, it’s better for the house and your home security to have someone staying there, particularly during fire season.

Professional house sitters are also bonded and insured, so if they wander off and forget to lock a door, or fall asleep with a candle burning or trip and break their leg in the bathroom, their boss pays for damages, not you.

Hiring friends and family

• Just because they’re family doesn’t mean things will go smoothly. If you’re going to ask a family member to stay, be clear about your expectations (no parties, no smoking, no guests or whatever) and put them in writing. Expect to pay about $15 to $20 a day for someone to live at the house while you’re away. You can negotiate whether or not they’ll need to pay the utilities; cable and other services while you’re gone.
• If you’re fortunate enough to have a friend willing to stay for free, still consider paying them something to cover groceries and transportation in exchange for watering the plants, taking care of pets, bringing in your mail and keeping the place clean while you’re gone.
• Regardless of whether you use a friend or a professional sitter, have other friends or family members check in with them, or drop by to make sure things are going okay.
• If you have a rental property, make sure your landlord approves a house-sitting arrangement while you’re gone. Most will if they know what your circumstances are. Make sure you have renter’s insurance and that your house sitter is covered by it if you aren’t hiring a professional.
• If you’re hiring a college student or neighbor, run a background check. They may be offended, but it will protect you in case they have a drug or criminal background you’re not aware of.
• Have a contract, even a simple one, for both of you to sign stipulating what is expected, who pays for what and when, and the details for the arrangements regarding lawn, pool, pet, plant and house care while you’re gone. Unless you’re paying them to be a maid, don’t expect them to keep the house better than how you left it when they arrived. They should clean up after themselves, but leaving a fraternity-house-post-party-mess when you leave and expecting the place to look like Martha Stewart spent the week there is unreasonable unless you are paying for that.
• Most house-sitting arrangements that don’t work fail because of a lack of communication — neither party communicated their expectations, needs, wants and boundaries. If you don’t want the person on your computer or watching porn on your cable, then say so.
• Make a detailed list of things they need to know in case of a fire, disaster or broken appliance. Give them the names of plumbers, friends, landlord and people they should call for various problems. If possible, give them a number or email where they can reach you with questions as well.
• Check references and don’t be afraid to ask for a security deposit to cover damages to the home while you’re gone.
• If you have any valuables, lock them up, put them in storage or secure them in some way. Put anything you don’t want getting broken (accidents do happen) in storage — even if you just pack it all up and put it in a spare room.

House sitters can give you great peace of mind if you take your time and find the right person. If you have pets, make sure they meet the house sitter while you’re there. See how your animals respond to the sitter. If they don’t hit it off, consider getting another sitter or kenneling your pet. It’s likely to create far too much stress for your animal, particularly if your sitter has pets they expect to bring with them.

Unless your apartment or house lock requires locking with a key, chances are you’re going to be locked out of your house or apartment at some time. If you’re renting, you’re probably going to pay between $10 and $50 for someone in the property manager’s office to come let you in if you lock yourself out. A locksmith will cost twice that much. Small wonder you’re tempted to hide a key somewhere!

However, the answer is not to hide a key under a rock, in a fake rock, under the doormat, in the porch light, on the doorsill, in a plant, on a nail in the garage or any of a dozen places most people hide keys thinking no one is ever going to think of looking there for them. If you can think to hide it there, someone intent on breaking in is going to think of looking there for it.

I do know of one friend who does keep a spare key hanging on a nail — inside the door of his Pit Bull’s doghouse! If you don’t mind taking a chance that a burglar will find your hidden key and wipe you out, you can stop reading now.

If you want to know where you can stash a key safely, here are some suggestions:

• Give a key to a trusted friend or family member. The operative word here is “trusted.” If you don’t trust that they won’t use it unless it’s an emergency or you have given them permission to go in, then don’t leave them with a key.
• Leave a spare key at work, either taped in a file folder, in a small box or other container — somewhere that someone rifling through your desk one night looking for change for the soft drink machine won’t find it.
• Leave a spare house key in a magnetic lockbox in the trunk of your car, or duct-taped to the spare tire. The problem with that is that if you have your car keys, you’ll likely have your house or apartment key too — most people get locked out when going for a run, going down to the Laundromat, or going to get their mail and they don’t have any keys with them.

While the fake rock is one possible solution, there are others:

• A hitch safe holds keys, cash and even credit cards and has a combination lock with 10,000 possible combinations to it. A dust cover conceals the safe and protects the mechanism.
• If you have a patio or balcony, a candle with a safe inside works. You can use this to hide valuables and cash inside your apartment as well.

• A wallet key case. Consider a wallet key case if you’re the type to never leave home without your wallet. It’s credit card sized and holds up to two keys.

• The thermometer case key. The front comes off this holder and allows you to hide several keys behind the actual thermometer.

• And if you’re a homeowner, there’s always the fully functional water-sprinkler-head key case. Unless you actually have a sprinkler system, this one is bound to stick out, pun intended.

• If you have more valuables in your home than in your car, here’s a solution to getting to the spare key hidden in your trunk: consider leaving a key to your trunk instead of a key to your house in that fake rock. If you live in an apartment complex, the thief will have to figure out which car is yours and still might not find the house key in time to get inside.

You may not be able to make it impossible to keep a thief from finding your backup key, but you can slow them down.

Friends and family are usually excited about helping you move into your first place — but by your third or fourth annual move, most of them will suddenly be busy that weekend. Why? Because moving your own apartment can be a drag, but moving a friend’s stuff can be even worse, especially after you’ve asked them to help three or four times already. One way to combat the “Sorry, I’m busy washing my cat.” or “I’m getting my tires rotated.” responses to requests for help moving is to be the master of moving etiquette. That means knowing how to treat your friends right when they do pitch in and help.

Face it: nothing motivates people like money, even if it’s just $20. Scrape together what you can and offer to pay your friends even a token amount for helping. Save enough to also order pizza and beer or sodas and to have a couple of coolers with drinks on ice during the move as well. Host a barbeque or dinner the following week or whenever you have your stuff unpacked and the place pulled together. Treat them to a meal, a tour and another round of heart-felt thanks. People like being appreciated — especially if they had to lug heavy boxes and furniture up and down stairs or for long distances.

Consider it money well spent. Without your friends you’d be forced to move it all yourself or to hire a moving company, right? Better to send a little money, love and appreciation your friend’s way instead. Don’t be cheap. If you absolutely, positively can’t afford to pay them anything, then at least keep them in sandwiches and drinks while they help. Give them each a handmade gift card offering your help next time they have to move, or tell them outright, “I owe you. Call me next time you move and I’m there.” Then be there.

Top Tips for Moving Day

Have everything packed and sealed in boxes and ready to go when they get there. There’s nothing more aggravating that showing up to help someone move and having to wait around for them to start packing. Have a plan. Go to the new place the night before, or the morning of the move and put posters, signs or labels on each door telling movers what room is what. When you say “That goes in bedroom #1.” or “Put it in the den.” they’ll know what you’re talking about.

Clean the apartment before you move in and stock the refrigerator with bottle water, other drinks, sandwich fixings and snacks so your crew can take a break and eat or grab a drink in between trips.

Have toilet paper, paper towels and hand cleaner or soap available. Moving can get dirty and people will want to clean up. If it’s raining, have a stack of clean, dry towels people can use when they come in soaked from the move — though it would be better to reschedule a rainy move, if possible.

If you borrow someone’s truck or other vehicle to move, return it with a full tank of gas and washed. Even if you only use it for a couple of hours and don’t get it dirty, return it in better shape than you got it. Do this because you want to let your friend know their loan of the vehicle was much appreciated. Even if the tank was on dead empty when you got it and you had to put gas in just to move, fill it up. They saved you the cost of a rental and insurance with their generosity. You want to leave them feeling good about the fact they loaned you their car.

If you get in an accident, break the side mirror off squeezing past it with a box, or dent, ding or scratch the vehicle in any way, it’s your responsibility to fix it, or pay for having it fixed. If you have a flat tire, or something happens that is not related to the age, engine maintenance, etc., fix it. I borrowed a friend’s car to run to the post office one evening. The next day the car died on the side of the road. It was a timing chain that snapped. I felt a huge sigh of relief that I hadn’t been the one driving when that happened. The entire engine had to be replaced to the tune of $5,000! It wouldn’t have been my fault, and it wouldn’t have been up to me to fix it since she admitted she ignored the “check engine” light for a month prior to that and her mechanic said that was the cause. But I would have been responsible for towing it to a dealer since I was driving it.

Friends are friends because they like you, respect you and feel appreciated. So show them your appreciation when they take their day(s) off to help you schlep your stuff from one place to another. If they come in from out of town for several days, treat them like honored guests. Give them a room and a bed, or rent a room at a local hotel. Their time is valuable. Let them know you realize that and respect them, and chances are good that the next time you need to move, they’ll be there to make it happen.

I was at my friend’s apartment enjoying coffee cake, coffee and a spirited discussion about her new job when there was a knock on the door.
“Get down! Get down!” she hissed, diving under the kitchen table.
I grabbed my cake and coffee and joined her there.
“What? What?! Who is it? Do you want me to call the police? What’s going on?”
I was clueless. I’d never seen her so frightened.
“Jehovah’s witnesses,” she paused. “Or Mormons. Or a magazine salesmen. Or politicians with a survey. I can’t tell them apart.”
“Politicians wear ties?” I suggested.
“No, they all wear ties,” she sighed.
We sat there for 10 minutes until the knocking and bell-ringing stopped. When we came out again I asked her why we were hiding under the table.
She nodded towards the sliding glass door off the dining room.
“They come around the back and look through the windows and just won’t give up,” she said.
“If I let them in, I can’t get rid of them. They’re worse than roaches!”

The more we talked, the more I realized that Cary hid under the table when trick-or-treaters came by on Halloween; when politicians and volunteers had petitions they wanted signed, or when any religious, school or other group wanted something. She was in a busy, densely populated, upscale area and her apartment complex was a traffic magnet for everyone selling or pushing anything.
If you’ve ever been the target of neighborhood sales teams, you know how annoying or even unnerving it can be to have strangers knocking on your door at odd hours.

The thing is, you don’t have to answer the door. It’s your house. You can ignore people at the door if you choose, even if they see you inside. For those who feel that’s rude, think about it. What gives them the right to interrupt your day and take up 15, 30 or 60 minutes of your time?

But there are other reasons not to answer a door when a stranger knocks:

Safety

Burglars, rapists and other criminals often “case” a neighborhood at odd hours during the day to see who is home, which houses are empty and who will open a door without checking to see who it is first. They show up posing as workmen, gardeners looking for work, utility men, people delivering pizza or packages — all manner of pretexts. They don’t like seeing a placard next to, or on, your door that reads, “We’re home, but we’re not answering the door. The door is being monitored by camera, so please state your business, and then leave your business card or contact information and we’ll call you back later if we’re interested.”

Gang members who want to be initiated into a gang must often kill, rape, mutilate or otherwise injure an innocent victim. They usually find them in parking lots, but sometimes they knock on doors. Women home alone during the day make great victims. Why provide them with one? Don’t answer the door.

If your neighbor is expecting a delivery, they should ask you if you are willing to accept it. In an apartment complex most deliverymen will leave packages at the main office. It’s faster, easier and procedure for them.

Unwelcome Caller

Religious types and various causes (political, environmental, personal) can be the most persistent unwelcome callers no matter what you believe. Do not let them in. (1) They  may not be who they claim to be and (2) It is almost impossible to get them to leave once you do let them in. If you want to discuss religion or causes with them, then do it outside so when you’re tired of the conversation you can just get up, go inside and lock the door.

Tips for Stopping the Knocking

If you live in an apartment complex, notify your manager that you are being pestered. Ask that they post signs at all entrances to the property that no solicitation is allowed. The next time someone knocks, you can point out the rules and advise them to leave or you can simply call the office or the police.

Post a small sign on your front door that says, “Private” or “No trespassing” or “No soliciting.” You can buy peel-and-stick signs with any of those messages at most office supply stores. When someone knocks anyway, call the police and insist they come. You don’t have to have no-trespassing signs on your property for someone to be charged with trespassing.  Plus, anyone coming on your property can be charged with trespassing, even if they didn’t know that they were trespassing.

If you can get the person to leave their contact information or name you can formally advise them not to return via certified letter. Or, you can do as my friend Tom does and ask them for their home phone and address. Most will not give it, obviously; he then has made his point and shuts the door.

With Halloween fast approaching you can either go out for the night to avoid trick-or-treaters, or you can leave treats unattended at the door. In many communities, it is accepted that any home with the porch light turned off is out of the candy-dispensing business — even if you want to give out candy, you’ll run out eventually and this is a signal that you’re done. If that’s not your neighborhood policy, you can also simply turn off all your lights as a signal that you are not participating in the festivities, then don’t answer the door.

Your home is your castle. Act like a king or queen, and just say no to anyone who wants to enter without a prior appointment. It’s your right.