Blog Archives

BETTER LOCKS MEAN BETTER VACATIONS

7/29/2019

Featured blog sent in by: The Flying Locksmiths

A vacation checklist for before you leave town

The Flying Locksmiths understand that would-be thieves don’t take a break in the summer. Before you head out on your next vacation, use this checklist to help ensure you and your belongings in your home are as safe as possible.
The good news is great security makes for better vacations! Knowing your home is protected means you’ll worry less and be able to enjoy yourself more.
Have visibly secure window and door locks: Windows and doors are the first line defense towards protecting your home. In other words, these are not places to skimp on protection! All locks and installations are not considered equal: Invest in properly installed deadbolts for all your outside doors. Consulting with your local locksmith and getting the best locks for your particular home will not just make it harder to get in, but may deter the bad guys from even trying to begin with!
Pause your mail service: Decide what to do about your mail and newspaper delivery ahead of time. There are pros and cons to the following options and what you decide to do may depend on your unique situation. Fortunately, this has gotten much easier in recent years. All you have to do is visit this page on USPS.com and make your request. Doing this a few days ahead of time is best, but you can even request that the post office hold your mail as soon as the next day.
Stop newspaper delivery: Again, this is has become quicker and easier and can be done as late as the day before! Simply visit your local newspaper online and make your request. BUT depending on your situation (i.e. – has your neighborhood recently been targeted by thieves?), you may want to have a neighbor pick up paper and mail for the following reason: Burglars often watch our habits. If they notice that the mailman and paper delivery is suddenly bypassing your home, it may be a clear signal to them that you are out of town.
Consider your lighting and change up your lightbulbs: Lights that are left on 24/7 serve as a glowing beacon to would-be burglars. One inexpensive solution is to install dusk to dawn light bulbs in any outdoor fixtures, such as these.
Install outdoor motion detector lights: Nothing will give a would-be burglar pause more than a light that pops on unexpectedly. A variety of shapes and sizes are available from hard-wired options to battery-operated porch-lights. If you are going to leave on lights, be sure to leave on the ones that make sense to be left on, such as in bathrooms and hallways.
Don’t hide your valuables in the Master Bedroom: Don’t hide things in here! In the event of a break-in, the Master Bedroom is one of the first places that a burglar will look. If you have to keep valuables in your bedroom, be sure to keep them locked up in a secure home safe.
Of course, it’s best to deal with many of these items well ahead of your next vacay! So contact or give us a call at 1-800-649-5397 to help you get started with those deadbolts you’ve been meaning to get.
We know – no one likes dealing with this stuff. But we promise you’ll quiet those voices in your head that lead to us not appreciating the best parts of life as we should, sleep better and overall enjoy that hammock time more if you take these important precautions.
BONUS HOME SAFETY TIPS
Here are a few additional steps we take at the last minute, especially when leaving our homes for more than a few days:
· Adjust thermostats (don’t turn off, as leaving your house too hot or cold, can lead to other problems upon your return.)
· Turn off water main
· Unplug major appliances or use surge protectors on them
· Be sure refrigerator doors are shut
· And last but not least, be sure you remember where you put your house keys in your luggage, so you don’t need to call us when you get home!

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Transmission – the backbone of the grid

7/24/2019

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Written by guest blogger Carol Obando-Derstine
Regional Affairs Director, PPL Electric Utilities

It’s a beautiful day – sun is shining, blue skies. Your family just arrived at your beach rental, ready to start your week-long vacation. And then, the power goes out. Five minutes pass…then five hours…then two days. There is no air conditioning, no refrigeration and the town has limited power. Angry, upset, frustrated, you turn your car around and head home. Your vacation is over before it began.

Power is something we take for granted, especially on beautiful summer days. But about two years ago, the above scenario was a reality. The Outer Banks, North Carolina experienced more than a week-long outage when a transmission line was accidentally hit during bridge construction work. Thousands of vacations were ruined and millions in small business revenue was lost.

Why would a problem on one power line affect such a large area? It has to do with what type of line was hit.
There are two major types of lines when thinking about the large, interconnected electric grid – transmission and distribution. Transmission lines (#2) transport high-voltage power over long distances to substations (#3) where voltage is reduced and sent out over distribution lines to serve homes and businesses (#4 and #5). You can think of it like the highway and local roadway system. Transmission lines are the highways – moving electricity efficiently and safely over long distances. Distribution lines are like the local roadways, delivering electricity directly to our homes and businesses. Transmission is the backbone of the grid. It enables a cleaner energy future by connecting us to wind, solar and hydroelectric power. It helps reliability, by getting power to where it’s needed most. It provides affordable power, by connecting consumers to hundreds of large-scale generators. It assists national security by providing a strong, integrated structure to respond to the increasing number and severity of weather, physical and cyber threats. And, it also drives local economies by delivering the electricity that powers all aspects of our lives. The importance of transmission and of a safe, secure and resilient grid will continue to increase. By investing now, we’re helping to reduce outages and keeping reliability strong.

To learn more about all we do to keep the lights on, visit pplelectric.com and click on the Reliability tab.

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Legally Protecting Your Assets from Skyrocketing Nursing Home Costs

7/22/2019

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Featured blog sent in by: Snyder & Wiles, PC

6 out of every 10 Americans who reach age 65 will need long-term care at some point in their lives. And the older they become, the greater the risk they will need some form of long term care.

Medicare does not pay the expenses of long-term care incurred for day care at adult centers, home care by relatives or employed caretakers, and nursing home care. Medicare pays limited benefits for skilled nursing care only. $341,840 is the estimated lifetime cost of care for someone with dementia; $123,600 is the maximum amount of assets that a healthy spouse can retain for the other spouse to be eligible for long-term care benefits provided by Medicaid for 2019.
The only options available to a Lehigh Valley resident to cover the costs of long term care are as follows:

1. SELF-PAY:
The estimated annual cost for a nursing home care facility is about $113,000 per year. At that rate, any family would go broke in no time caring for a loved one.

2. LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE:
Long Term Care Insurance is not cheap, costing anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 per year for a couple depending on how old you are when you purchase the coverage and it is subject to an increase in premiums on a yearly basis.
The average Nursing Home stay is around 4 years. So you’ll need a policy that covers at least 4 years.

3. MEDICAID
Medicaid financed nursing home care is available to those who qualify based on income and assets.
Available resources to an applicant for Medicaid must be less than $8,000.
With proper and advance planning, you do not have to go broke or let your family live impoverished in order to have proper care when you need it.

ONE SOLUTION IS IRREVOCABLE TRUSTS:
Medicaid Regulations impose a 5-year look back period for any transfers made to reduce assets in order to qualify for Medicaid benefits.

An Irrevocable Grantor Trust cannot be changed or terminated by the Grantor, once it has been created. It will require administration at the death of the Grantor and cannot easily be reached by the Grantor’s creditors. Unlike a Revocable Trust the Grantor does not own the assets. All of the property held in an Irrevocable Trust may not necessarily require probate.

An Irrevocable Trust is a primary tool in most Asset Protection and Estate Plans. The trusts can own almost any asset while providing shelter from the Grantor’s and Beneficiary’s divorce, creditors and legal problems. The trust can help keep assets in the family. This flexible tool allows Grantors to provide benefits for generations. These valuable benefits arise because once the Grantor transfers ownership of an asset to the trust; she/he has surrendered all incidents of ownership over that asset. It is the trust’s asset now, not the Grantor’s.

Typically, the Irrevocable Trust may be subject to PA Inheritance tax because the transfer to the trust is made for less than adequate consideration, and the trust reserves the right to income and designation of beneficiaries. But, this type of trust if properly planned for, may help insure your loved ones are taken care of and avoid you going broke in a nursing home. However, planning well in advance is the key to making any Estate Plan work for you.

To learn more, contact us at Snyder & Wiles, PC, 7731 Main Street, Fogelsville, PA, or 610-391-9500, or visit us at www.snyderwileslaw.com. We’ve been protecting your assets and your loved ones for over 22 years in the Lehigh Valley.

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Fighting Inflammation with Food

7/15/2019

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Featured blog sent in by: Kyle Lance, PT, DPT, Ali Narvaez, Rania Nimeh, Transformation Rehabilitation

Put down those French fries, grab some berries! Put down that soda, pour some green tea! Studies have shown that intermittent inflammation threatens one’s health. Inflammation has been linked to chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, depression, and Alzheimer’s. However, the likelihood of obtaining these conditions can be decreased — not through the pharmacy — but with your lifestyle choices through your diet, dental health, and exercise. Researchers promote the consideration of incorporating anti-inflammatory foods to help reduce the chances of such illnesses.

What is inflammation?
Inflammation is a vital factor in the body’s healing process. To simplify things, the immune system causes a cascade of chemical reactions which leads to swelling and heat to protect and repair tissues in the body. Unfortunately, chronic or long-term, inflammation is essentially an over working of the immune system: it produces a steady, low level of swelling. Arteries, organs and other tissues can break down under this constant stress and this contributes to the formation of diseases such as cancer, diabetes and generalized pain. There has also been a link to the emergence of lupus, arthritis, and certain cancers after the immune system has gone awry.

Combating inflammation:
Foods considered to be anti-inflammatory include:

Green leafy vegetables, like kale and spinach
Fruits, such as berries, pineapple, and papaya
Nuts, including almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, and seeds
Fatty fish and fish oil

Foods considered to coincide with inflammation include:

Refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and pastries
Fried foods, such as French fries
Soda and sweetened beverages, including diet soda
Red meats, like beef and pork, and processed meats such as sausage and hot dogs
Trans fats, such as margarine and processed foods

A diet high in inflammatory foods can be detrimental to your health but choosing the right anti-inflammatory foods can lower your risk of disease.

How we can help:
Come into Transform Rehabilitation and see our registered dietitian, Erica Smith, RD, LDN. Our dietitian can put together a personal diet plan, flexible with your lifestyle, that will promote a healthier and happier you! Next time you are reaching for the fries, pick up the phone instead and call (484) 387-1065 to schedule a consultation.

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What to Expect from a Kitchen and Bath Showroom

7/8/2019

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Featured blog post sent in by: Direct Kitchen

Making the decision to remodel your kitchen, bath or any other part of your home is huge. It’s fraught with anxiety and unknowns. A professional showroom’s role is to ease the fear and eliminate stress. That’s why it is important to understand that a professional showroom offers more than cabinets, countertops and appliances. A professional showroom is in the business of providing peace of mind.

How can you differentiate one showroom from another? Develop a checklist of information that a showroom needs to offer to help ensure peace of mind. You should expect a showroom to provide the following information:

Schedule: An excellent showroom will not only relate the anticipated start and end dates but the sequencing of construction. Scheduling is particularly important for kitchens and baths because of the lead times required for different products such as custom and semi-custom cabinets and specialty finished fixtures.

The team: The schedule also should identify which different trade professionals will be in your home and the timeframe for their arrival and departure.

Protecting your home: Showrooms should tell you who will lock up your home at the end of the day and how they are going to protect the space. This may include a dust prevention plan and identifying paintings, valuables and other items that may have to be removed from adjacent walls to protect them from potential damage.

Level of involvement and communication: You should expect a showroom to ask you how much you want to be involved in the project. You should identify the decisions that you want to be involved with such as how you’d like tile to be placed or approving lighting location before the space is wired. Your showroom team should also determine the best time and methodology for communicating with you if questions need to be answered or problems need to be addressed during the day and after hours.

Showroom concerns: Your showroom should identify concerns that it has before a project begins. Showrooms have designed and built hundreds if not thousands of new kitchens. They understand that on every project there is a potential for the unknown. To reduce anxiety and potential stress, expect your showroom to discuss the areas of concern it has before demolition begins.

Handling change orders: The procedure for handling change orders should be agreed upon before a project begins. Change orders are the result of a change in plans or uncovering the unexpected. Often times change orders occur because the existing infrastructure of the home does not meet current code requirements. How the changes are communicated and agreed upon should be part of the planning process.

For more info, download our resource guide “Showroom Visit”. Please let us know what additional questions we can answer for you, before you select your kitchen and bath specialist. Give us a call at 610-262-7235 to schedule a meeting at our showroom at 5585 MacArthur Road Whitehall, PA 18052. Got a quick question? Text us at 610-601-3083. Click here to schedule a meeting on line.

Read related post: Relationship between a home owner and a kitchen and bath designer

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What Can We Learn from Target's Recent Power Outage?

7/1/2019

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Guest blog post submitted by Murtaza Jaffer, EBC Printing

There is a lot to be learned from Target, which recently underwent a huge register outage that caused the company to lose out on nearly 100 million dollars in sales over a two day period.
On a Saturday afternoon, for roughly two hours, Target cash registers across the country stopped working, preventing customers from making purchases in stores. The next day, a similar outage occurred, causing registers to go down for 90 minutes. The problem, they said, was not caused by Target's software but by a third-party who provides their POS system.
Disgruntled customers, who were not notified of the issue until they got in line to checkout, left the store and shared their dissatisfaction across social media.
This is a prime example of how businesses are largely impacted by business downtime. Not only does it affect the hard sales from customers unable to make their purchases, but also lost productivity of employees standing around unable to work, brand damage, and data loss.
Downtime can cause more than an inconvenience, it could drive a company out of business all together; especially the smaller businesses who have less money to gamble with. In fact, according to the 2016 Cost of Data Center Outages report, unplanned downtime costs $8,851 per minute, up from $7,908 in 2013.
So what can we learn from Target's recent mishap?
• Don't panic if an issue occurs! Document everything and work towards a solution.
• Know who to contact if technology fails.
• Notify customers of the issue right away. Be upfront with what's going on and provide a timetable for fixing the problem (but don't lie if you are not sure!) Apologize and sympathize!
• Offer coupons, snacks, beverages to customers for the inconvenience.
• Once the problem is resolved, examine your system for internal and external weaknesses and find out where the problem originated. (Did someone trip over a power cord or was it a more widespread failure?)
• Moving forward, monitor your IT system so that you know about an issue before your customer does.
• If you are using a lower-grade hardware system, upgrade to an enterprise-level network infrastructure. Higher grade equipment helps maintain reliability so that productivity will not be lost.
• Have a Plan B/backup system in place, as well as a backup power supply in case weather is the culprit. Businesses can invest in an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). A UPS provides backup battery power to your IT systems which kicks in the moment regular power goes offline. Through a UPS, any loss of power will immediately transfer to the battery supply, without any noticeable interruption from the user.
• Consider using a cloud server, which are housed in colocation centers. They are more convenient and reliable due to their easy accessibility, but they’re also safer since they create automatic backups to prevent in data loss for the client.
Follow these tips and don't let downtime take your business down!

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GREATER LEHIGH VALLEY CHAMBER BLOG

BETTER LOCKS MEAN BETTER VACATIONS

Transmission – the backbone of the grid

Legally Protecting Your Assets from Skyrocketing Nursing Home Costs

Fighting Inflammation with Food

What to Expect from a Kitchen and Bath Showroom

What Can We Learn from Target's Recent Power Outage?

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