by Misty S Bledsoe
You will need to use alternate transportation if you cannot enlist the help of friends or family.//Photo courtesy of alvimann-Morguefile.com
Naturally, if you have a suspended driver’s license you will be unable to relocate your belongings to another city without having a trusted family member or friend drive your moving van. There is the option of hiring a moving company to transport your belongings but that can be rather expensive. If neither of these things are an option, then you will need to consider a final alternative to relocating with a suspended driver’s license. It involves placing your belongings into a storage unit and moving with only what you can transport via bus or plane.
- Research the various storage units available to you locally. Keep your eye out for “move-in” specials and other attractive deals for new customers. Pick one based on price, location, and other things like lease terms. You will need to decide if you want a month-to-month contract or a lease like 6 months. You will also need to save about $200 to $500 in spendable income to help set certain things up in your new residence.
- Begin moving your belongings into the storage unit with the help of friends and family.
- Pack the things you will need once you move into your new location into your large bag. Things to include are important papers, identifications, contact information for all of your creditors including utility companies for your current residence and your future one, laptop, peripherals, and other electronics, and clothing to last one week for both business and personal use.
- Move to your new residence and use the spendable cash to purchase things like plates, utensils, a lamp and other low cost household items you can obtain at second hand stores like Goodwill, Value Village or garage and yard sales. The largest item you may need to spend money on would be a good quality air mattress or a used mattress until you can figure out how to move the rest of your belongings.
Consider pairing down your items by hosting a garage or yard sale or sell your items on classifieds like Craigslist before moving the belongings into a storage unit. You could also mail items such as clothing and or bedding to your new residence approximately one week prior to your move. You can adjust the days of mailing depending on how much money you want to spend on shipping.
Expect to move some of the items yourself to your storage unit. If you do not have friends or family to help, then you may be forced to give your belongings away quickly to anyone who will accept them. Do not abandon items at a residence for any reason as you could be subject to fines from either your landlord if you rent or the city if you are homeowner and the left behind materials create a waste hazard. If you cannot give away your belongings to neighbors and relatives, then consider calling local churches of any faith to see if they are willing to collect your belongings for members of their congregations or any charities the churches might be affiliated with.
by Misty S Bledsoe
Setting a time limit can make cleaning go faster.//Photo courtesy of mzacha/Morguefile.com
The house is a mess. Dishes need to be done. Laundry is piled up and the kids’ toys are strewn everywhere in their rooms. How do you get your family to work together as a team to get the place cleaned up in a jiffy?
- Make activities fun. Turn it into a game. Use an egg timer you can find the dollar store, especially if your kids can’t tell time yet. Set the timer for a specific period of time, say 10 minutes and say “Suzy, you take the bathroom. Bobby, you take the kitchen. Robby, you take___etc..” and let the timer go.
- Turn off the TV. It’s a huge distraction. The point was proved when the cable went out one evening during dinner and there was nothing but black and white static on the TV. It was left on for about five minutes to see what would happen. The kids kept looking up at it and watching it for no reason, not concentrating on the food in front of them. It was amazing.
- Keep the activities focused on one at a time. While the adults take the major responsibilities, keep the kids on task with one assigned task until it’s finished.
- Slather on the praise. Praise and acknowledge those who helped transform the house from a classic case of before = disaster zone to after = almost a major remodel. The more you reward those who helped, the more often they are likely to do it again, especially when it’s a group event.
Keep everyone on top with “friendly reminders” to do their part to keep the house clean. Take the dishes to the sink as soon as your done eating. Pick up the dirty clothes and put them where they belong before you leave the room. Turn out the lights when you’re done. Teach your family members to do small simple, repeatable tasks they can do while they are on their way from one place to another or do to a task when they are thinking about it, especially if it only takes a few minutes. Doing this on a regular basis will actually reduce the severity of cleaning sessions you have to endure when everyone does their part.
by Misty S Bledsoe
Cleaning wax off crystal candlesticks doesn't have to be a chore. //Photo courtesy of anitapatterson/Morguefile.com
Before you get started you’ll need:
Plastic spatula
Toothpicks
Hair dryer
Paper towels
Crystal candlesticks hold candles as they burn and depending on the shape and style, they pick up the candle light and cascade it around a room. Keeping them clean and free from regular wax drippings does not have to be a chore. If you have several candlesticks to maintain, gathering them all up and cleaning them at the same time could be possible. You’ll need to gather the supplies for the project ahead of time.
- Pry off as much of the wax as you can from each candlestick with a plastic spatula and place it aside. Use a toothpick for hard to reach grooves. You may not be able to get all of it out at this time. This is OK.
- Plug in the hair dryer and set the dryer to a medium setting. If you only have a high and a low setting to choose from, choose the high setting.
- Wrap the waxy area with a paper towel. If the wax that remains is inside, place the paper towel over the opening and down as far as the paper towel will comfortably reach.
- Turn on the blow dryer and hold the end of the blow dryer roughly six inches from the wax residue. If your dryer is on the high setting, hold the blow dryer roughly eight inches from the wax. The goal is to melt the wax without having the candlestick heat up too much. The wax should melt and absorb into the paper towel. Use care when handling the paper towel as melted wax can cause burns.
- Discard of the paper towels. Feel free to rinse the candlesticks under warm (not hot) water to finish cleaning them and dry them with dry paper towels.
Consider recycling the larger wax chips if you have the means to combine the waxy scraps and melt it down again for craft projects or making your own homemade candles. If you have many candleholders to clean, you might be able to talk a friend into helping to speed things up and make it more fun.
Avoid exposing your crystal candlesticks to extreme temperatures. Never microwave crystal and avoid putting it in the freezer as the extreme temperatures can damage the crystal. Never use scouring pads or other rough surfaces to clean or buff the crystal, as it will scratch. Do not pour melted wax down any drain as it can lead to clogging.
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Misty Bledsoe lives in the Puget Sound and holds a Bachelors degree in Information Technology with a concentration in Computer Programming from American Intercontinental University. She has been writing for more than 15 years for both offline and online publications both under her own name and psuedonyms. Her primary blog is found on this site and chocked full of useful information on a variety of topics.
(c)2008-2010 Misty S. Bledsoe. All Rights Reserved including code manipulation. No part of this blog may be reproduced without the author’s expressed written permission.
