I drive on the highway in Central Florida, which means I get bombarded with the “love bug” (Plecia nearctica) just about everywhere I go.
Don’t cry for me nearctica.
The truth is I never felt you.
All through your wild days
Your mad existence.
You fly into my windshield
I clean your carcass.
I digress, but did you even know I could sing like Madonna? The simple truth is I spend too much time adding windshield wiper fluid to my car’s reservoir. To prevent making a big mess, I usually keep a funnel in the trunk but it sure does roll around (and things that go bump in the trunk are not something my wife likes to hear). A week ago I saw a funnel that lays completely flat so I can set it on top of the spare tire under the rug in my trunk. Not a bad idea. If I changed my own oil I guess I would use it even more. And it's green. And not spilling fluid, including motor oil and other engine fluids, may just be "green" in other ways.
Watching paint dry, waiting for a pot to boil, watching grass grow—these are the tedious moments of our lives. But at least with Rock Solid Floors, the time spent waiting for your floor sealant to dry has been cut from four days to 24 hours. No more moving all your junk out of the garage to the front lawn and having it sit there for days on end. It's environmentally friendly and has a lifetime guarantee not to yellow or fade. The Rock Solid Flooring mixture is made entirely of polyurea and 100 percent solids and contains absolutely no VOCs.
The garage door is the new front door, or so says GarageWowNow.com, a non-commercial site educating the consumer about new styles available in garage doors, openers and accessories. Check out the fabulous before and after pictures showing what a dramatic impact a new garage door can bring to your home. You'll also find new door styles, features and tips and be able to search for local garage door installers by ZIP code.
This weekend, we (and I say that loosely—what I really mean is my husband) cleaned our garage to start parking our cars there again. Living in Massachusetts, it's great to have a place to get the cars out of the snow and not spend time in the morning cleaning them off. In good weather, we don't bother parking our cars in the garage. But this Sunday brought our first snowfall, so it was time to open it up again. Out came the inflatable baby pool our toddler uses in the warm weather as well as the camp chairs, coolers and everything else that finds its way into the garage during the summer and fall. Everything made its way into the basement to hibernate for the winter. The snow blower, shovels and ice scrapers resurfaced and assumed their winter positions near the front of the garage.
The garage isn't quite finished, however, and there are still loose items that need to find a home. Feeding into my ongoing obsession to get completely organized, I found a couple articles on the Associate Content web site called "Ways to Declutter a Garage for the Winter" and "Get the Most Out of Your Garage Space" that include some useful tips on ways to declutter your garage. Check them out.
I suffer enough angst over my garage—it's a mess, the car won't fit, there's tons of stuff to sort through, I need a garage sale and an organization system. But, a recent Money Pit article really gives me pause: I didn't think about the impact of all that junk on my home's fire safety. Think about it—all those paints, chemicals, toys and stored goods sitting together, getting jostled, bumped, and shoved around to make room for bikes and sports equipment? I really need to get everything flammable into its own metal storage closet. That's a goal I can achieve. Then I need to make sure that the firewall between my garage and my house is intact. Like may garages, ours has been modified to include storage. That's only a problem if the fire retardant barrier between the house and garage has been disrupted. Drywall that is removed and stairs cut into the attic open the way for fire to travel between the garage and house. Code specifies that there be protection between the two spaces because storing a car is already a risk. So please, look at your garage and think about safety. We need to be more aware of what we're storing and how we protect our homes and families from fire.
As American homes increase in size, the demand for garage space is also increasing. According to the National Association of Home Builders, last year 25% of home buyers preferred a three-car garage to the more standard two-car version. If Americans want to maximize the parking space for their cars, why not start stacking them? Harding Steel of Denver helps home owners double up their cars' storage space with car and SUV lifts for home garages. Harding has lifts in a variety of sizing options to fit most garages. Looks like a risky proposition stacking cars like this, but these guys have been in the business since 1968. They'll even galvanize the steel on request for the rougher climates of the north. All drivers need to do is drive onto the lift platform and push the button. A system of wheel locks prevent any movement during the raising of the vehicle. The lift is powered by a simple wall outlet connection. Residential systems cost around $7,000 to install, not bad considering how much I've seen people spend building a larger garage. Words of caution: Watch the ceiling and move the car below before you lower the one on top.
I don't know about you, but my garage looks like trash—and that's putting it nicely. I know I need to organize it, but it all seems too daunting. Why not just put a sign on the door, that fronts onto the driveway of course, saying "Please use other door?" Oh really, how pathetic! Enter the Gladiator GarageWorks from Whirlpool. They offer everything to get the junk up, off the floor, stored or hanging where it belongs. Wall panels are designed to spruce up the look of the garage while providing tracks for hanging tool strips and cabinets. But why stop there? There is slip-proof or drainable flooring to cover up the cracked, stained concrete for a functional work space. There are refrigerators, of course—hey, this is Whirlpool—so that the largest space in the house can be the coolest. You know, it may just be enough to get my organizational juices flowing.
