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Clayton Pioneer • www.claytonpioneer.com
March 25, 2011
Jump into spring cleaning safely
HARUN SIMBIRDI
SAFETY ZONE Installations – Repairs Toilets Faucets Water heaters Garbage disposals Clogged drains
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Spring cleaning and do-ityourself (DIY) projects are common this time of year. According to the Home Safety Council, home injuries result in nearly 20,000 deaths and more than 21 million medical visits each year. It’s usually simple chores like lifting, climbing ladders, trimming, cleaning cabinets, reorganizing closets and window washing that causes most of the injuries. Before you begin cleaning or working on projects, put safety at the top of your list and follow these basic tips. CLEANING
AND PROJECTS
DIY
Keep your area free of
ideor ic VH s u M py oupm
clutter, especially near stairs, steps, landings or floors, to reduce the risk of falling. This is important when cleaning out closets and reorganizing. Move telephone and electrical cords out of walkways. Make sure toys and other items are always put away when not in use. Never carry more than you can handle and make sure you can see over the items. Keep one hand free to hold banisters and railings. Use a stepladder or safety ladder for climbing. For both stepladder and ladders, always stand at or below the highest safe standing level usually the second rung from the top. If using an extension ladder, the safe level is the fourth rung from the top. Make sure the rungs are dry and the ladder is securely positioned on a flat surface. For all ladders, remember to keep your weight centered at all times. While cleaning out cabinets, keep anything dangerous up and out of the reach of children or locked up. It’s best to wear gloves, eye protection and/or masks when cleaning or handling chemicals. Be sure
not to mix products together. Buckets pose a drowning danger to infants and young children so be mindful to never leave a bucket or other standing water unattended. When you are finished using a bucket, store it empty and preferably upside down. Always use appropriate cleaning solvents. Never use gasoline as a cleaning solvent and always store it outside to prevent a serious fire. YARD
CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
When mowing or trimming the yard, it’s best to keep children inside the house or well away from the area. Children should never ride on tractor mowers. It’s a good idea to make all power tools and mowers off limits to your children even when stored. Before mowing, check for and remove toys or other objects that can get stuck in the mower or cause a flying hazard. Always mow the lawn while wearing closed-toe shoes. When starting the mower for the first time, make sure the guards are all in place.
Never reach under the mower unless it is turned off and the blade has completely stopped turning. Refuel the mower after it has completely cooled down. Store pesticides and herbicides in original containers on high shelves or inside locked cabinets, out of the reach of children. When using them, never leave them unattended – especially if you have children. Properly store garden tools (rakes, spades, forks, pruning clippers, etc.) when not in use. It’s best to store these with sharp edges down. Always wear proper eye protection when using any power tool. Don’t forget to tuck in your shirt and never wear loose, dangly clothing that could be caught in moving parts. Enjoy the warm weather and remember to think safety this spring. Harun Simbirdi is a resident of Clayton and member of the city of Clayton Citizen Corps Council (C5CERT). He can be reached at simbirdi@yahoo.com.
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Mar. 25, 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Bollinger Station Apr. 1, 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Crossman Country Karaoke Wed. nights Open Mic Thur. nights, 8 to 11 p.m. www.claytonclubsaloon.com
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If you’re looking to have a good time – and hey, who isn’t? – I suggest a visit to the pediatric ward at Kaiser on a Saturday morning. “Fun” is hardly descriptive enough to do it justice. For the past month, we’ve had a toxic mucous cloud hanging over our house like a …well, like a toxic cloud. No sooner does one person begin to feel better then another falls prey to the sickness. The boy recently spent the better part of a week camped out on the couch. He seemed to get better, or at least the fever went away, so we quickly took advantage of the opportunity to send him back to school. No sooner had he become the school’s problem again when yours truly is stricken with the scourge. In my case, the fever lasted less than 24 hours, but the mucousy fun remained, eventually developing into an ear infection. Really? An ear infection? I haven’t had an ear infection since I was a kid. What’s next? Is someone going to steal my
milk money and then tell Robin Shea that I LIKE like her and want to meet her after school behind the eucalyptus trees? Well, I don’t! Anyway, sick enough to whine but well enough to work, I soldiered on. Less than two weeks later, the boy and I are sitting in the pediatric waiting room, him running a temperature and crashed out on a bench, me surrounded by oozing, dripping children who have been taught that “Sharing is nice! It’s good to share. Do you want some of this pretty green stuff ? It’s slippery AND sticky all at the same time! No, it’s OK. You can have some. I’ve got lots more in my nose.” *shudder* As every parent knows, before every trip to the doctor, every kid asks the same question: “Am I going to get a shot?” My kid certainly qualifies as “every kid.” Boy: “Am I going to get a shot?” Me: “No.” Boy: “Really?” Me: “No.”
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Boy: “No I’m not going to get a shot, or no you didn’t mean it when you said no I wasn’t going to get a shot?” Me: “Huh?” Boy: “Am I going to get a shot?” Me: “I don’t know! No, probably not. Maybe. How do I know? Maybe you’ll get a doctor who hates kids and gives them all shots whether they need one or not.” Boy: “Really?” Me: “No.” Boy: “No I’m not going to get a doctor who hates kids and gives them all shots, or no …” It is normally at this point in the conversation that one of us begins crying. So no, he didn’t have to get a shot, though I was sorely tempted to give him one myself. And he doesn’t have strep, or bronchitis or any other form of illness for which they can actually do anything. It’s just a virus and it has to run its course. Awesome. SO worth the trip. Lisa is now suffering with
JOE ROMANO
SO ANYWAY “the virus that shall not be cured” and, like all parents, she continues to do all that’s expected of her all the while wishing she could just crawl into bed for a few days and be left alone. Besides a slight cold during the Christmas holidays, the girl has remained surprisingly healthy. I’m beginning to wonder if she’s been bogarting the echinacea and vitamin C. Or, perhaps, it’s something more sinister, involving blood pacts and living sacrifices. But that’s unlikely, because blood pacts normally involve having to get a shot. Clayton resident, Joe Romano, is a family man, a free-lance writer for hire and the Pioneer’s “all around funny guy.” E-mail him at jromano01@yahoo.com