Source: Solar Homes - The Benefits of Solar Power at Home by Anne Clark

We should be aware of these common mistakes in hiring a nanny :
1. Inadequate Reference and Background Screening: Failure to speak candidly to a candidate’s references about your job and their experiences with the candidate has led many a family to make a hiring mistake. This takes time, and in their hurry to staff the position, many families take, and then regret, this shortcut.

2. Compensation out of Step with the Local Job Market: Hiring a nanny is expensive. It is the most expensive form of US childcare. Offering below market compensation not only makes it harder to staff the position, but it also leads to frequent turnover as the nanny leaves for a better paying position.

3. Unrealistic Expectations for Housekeeping Help: Parents often have visions of the Brady Bunch’s Alice in their heads when they hire a nanny. They reason that their child naps several hours every afternoon and the nanny should be able to use this down time to take care of all of the housekeeping chores. It IS realistic to expect that a nanny will leave your house in the condition you left it. Unloading the dishwasher, emptying the full kitchen trash, and cleaning up around the high chair are all realistic expectations. It IS NOT realistic to expect the nanny to spend the hour or two that your child is napping cleaning bathrooms, doing the parent’s laundry, mopping floors, etc. A nanny typically works in a very isolated situation, with little adult interaction and no meaningful breaks away from work. She needs some time in her 9 or 10 hour day to sit down, have a cup of tea, phone a friend, or in some manner take a break before resuming full childcare responsibilites.

4. Poor Communication about Wages and Taxes: You might believe that the nanny should expect that you will deduct taxes, and when you offer her $500 per week, she will only clear $425 after taxes. Wrong! Many nannies (and domestics in general) hear and understand the salary offer as a take home pay. You need to clearly communicate all compensation issues, including overtime compensation, up front when hiring. Miscommunication on compensation had torpedoed many a nanny:family relationship.

5. Hiring without a Written Work Agreement: Don’t do it! A well crafted work agreement will spell out all the terms and conditions of the employment relationship, including hours, duties, benefits, and compensation.

6. Disagreement on Childcare Style: The family is very permissive, the nanny believes in boundaries. The nanny believes in disciplining with time out, the family believes in taking away privileges. Talk about this up front. Ask the nanny about how she was reared. Articulate your philosophy and ask her for feedback. Inconsistency in discipline and childrearing philosophies is not good for your children, and you will not be happy with the relationship long term.

7. Failure to Provide Training and Orientation: The new nanny does not know exactly how your family operates. A family needs to spend adequate time - from several hours, to several days, acclimating the new nanny.

8. Micromanagement: This is common with families with new babies, and families hiring their first nanny. It is perfectly legitimate to articulate your expectations to the nanny, and to request that she maintain a nanny log. It is unreasonable to expect her to have your baby napping from exactly 9:00 - 9:45 and 1:00 - 2:15. Tell her what you need done, and if necessary how you like it done, and then give her the lattitude and flexibility to order her day to accomplish what you expect.

9. Failure to Pay for Holidays and Days the Family is on Vacation: A full time nanny should expect to receive her guaranteed base weekly pay all 52 weeks of a year, whether you need her for all or part of a week or not. Nanny should only be docked for days when she is absent (sick, car trouble, whatever the reason) and there is no flexible leave time (paid time off) available. And remember, pay day should never be delayed - if you will be gone on your nanny’s pay date please provide her pay in advance.

10. Issues Transporting Your Children: If the nanny is required to use her personal vehicle for work purposes, you need to reimburse her for mileage at the IRS stipulated amount, which is adjusted year to year. The nanny may be reluctant to use her vehicle; we always recommend that families provide a vehicle for their child’s transport, including age appropriate safety seats.

Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 14 and under. Child safety seats and safety belts, when installed and used correctly, can prevent injuries and save lives. Unrestrained children are more likely to be injured, suffer severe injuries and die in motor vehicle crashes than children who are restrained.

It is best advised to learn these safety tips for your child’s safety in every ride:

* Buckle up every time, no matter how short the trip.
* Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in a back seat. A back seat is generally the
safest place for a child to ride. While air bags can save lives, kids riding in the front seat can
be seriously injured or killed when an air bag comes out in a crash. Even with advanced air
bags or no air bags, the back seat is safer for children.
* Never put a rear-facing child in a front seat with an active frontal air bag.
* Choose the right child safety seat or safety belt for your child’s size and age. Make sure you
have the right seat for your child.
- Infants should ride in rear-facing safety seats as long as possible, until they are at least 12
months old and weigh at least 20 pounds.
- Children who are at least 1 year old, weigh 20 to 40 pounds and can no longer ride in
rear-facing seats should ride in forward-facing child safety seats.
- Children over 40 pounds should be correctly secured in belt-positioning boosters or other
appropriate child restraints until the adult lap and shoulder belts fit correctly, usually around
age 8.
- Once the vehicle safety belts fit children, both lap and shoulder belts should be used
correctly.
* Install and use your child safety seat or safety belt according to the manufacturer’s
instructions and your vehicle owner’s manual.
* Ensure your child safety seat has not been recalled.

Source: Passenger Safety

1. Ensure that all accessible external doors and windows are fitted with locks and the keys removed and hidden from view. This is a basic security measure, especially in places where you’re new and anybody can just break in your room.

2. Check with the landlord that previous tenants no longer have any keys. The previous tenants might come back and just enter without your permission. They might not have clean intentions. To avoid this, make sure that they had surrendered their keys to the landlord.

3. If in shared accommodation check the room door can be locked. It might not be safe with many people in one building. And it’s not always safe when you’re sharing your accommodation with someone you’ve just met. Privacy also comes into play, and a lock on your door may just help.

4. Join your local Neighbourhood Watch scheme and meet the neighbours. If there are any on your new place, join them! Other than being a great way to meet new people and make new friends, you’ll also be able to keep up with the different dangers in the area and security measures to employ.

5. Arrange for a friend to visit the property regularly if you are away to remove any mail and put it in a safe place. Don’t forget to provide them with a contact number. If you have to go somewhere, like go back home to your parents’ house for an occasion, have your friend take care of things for a while. It’s important that people will think that there is still someone present in the property to avoid burglary and break-ins.

6. Check outside lighting does work and leave lights on in the house during darkness using a suitable timing device. Lighting and timing devices have proven to be a burglar’s enemies.

7. Remove any valuables from show and put in a safe place, hidden from view. If you don’t them stolen, then better to keep it hidden safely.

8. Whenever you leave your home always lock all doors, even if it’s only for a couple of minutes. Don’t think that a few minutes isn’t enough for a burglar.

9. If the property has a garden, check access is secure. Burglars sometimes use the garden as a hiding place. Check whether anyone can possibly use the garden as a tool for hiding and check for any entrance and exits.

10. Ensure you have the household insurance policy details and a contact number handy in case a claim has to be made. Check in detail what the insurance covers in the likely situation that belongings will be stolen.

Source: Easier Finance

The device, half the size of a cigarette pack, can be wired into anything that moves - truck, car, shipping container - to head off nearly every conceivable type of disaster.
It can be programmed to stop a drunk or unauthorized driver from starting a vehicle, for example, or detect and shut down a truck that has been hijacked, locking the thief inside and alerting its owners.

Powered by GPS tracking, wireless communication, and a Linux-based operating system, Astrata is the brainchild of Martin Euler and Tony Harrison, a British accountant and an Irish technology executive, respectively, who bet that the need for tracking and security devices would grow exponentially after 9/11.

Course correction
Astrata can detect a gasoline tanker that veers one block off its route, thwarting attempts to use it as a bomb. Security giant Group 4 Securicor puts it in armored cars in Indonesia.
Driver ID system
Astrata can be programmed to start only after the driver passes a breathalyzer test and presses a thumb for identification. A video camera can record the driver’s activities. Singapore’s Civil Defense Force is using the camera and thumb ID system in its hazmat trucks.
Speed tracker
Once Astrata detects a stolen (or speeding) vehicle, it can slow it to 5 mph or stop it completely. One commercial client uses the device to monitor how fast its truck drivers are going and how aggressively they drive. The box also tracks when the trucks are moving, so drivers can’t pad overtime claims or moonlight with company property.
Instant holding cell
Doors and windows can be locked remotely, trapping would-be terrorists, thieves, or reckless drivers inside. The device can also be programmed to flash hazard lights, blare the horn, notify headquarters, and summon police.

Source: Business 2.0 Magazine

Identity thieves are targeting your car. Follow these simple tips to be protected.