Life is great, right?
Not so fast...
You're not going to sit your best assets down on someone else's toilet seat, are you?
I should hope not.
No one else has a key to your front door, right?
Silly boy.
OK, I've just pointed out a couple areas that deserve your immediate attention. Whether or not you own or rent, there are a number of things you can do to make your place safer and, generally, more pleasant than if you'd just moved in and left things as they are. Let's run down the list and take a look-see...
- Replace toilet seats. This really is a no-brainer. I'll admit to being a hypocrite on this one; we've lived in our house 8 years, and I just replaced our two weeks ago -- and the only reason I replaced them is that one cracked (I shudder thinking how much mileage that baby had on it). After replacing them, I wondered why the hell I didn't do that before we moved in. For $50, I replaced the seat/lid combos in both bathrooms (and these are the ones with the metal hinges. They look nicer, they are spotlessly clean, and I love 'em. Money well spent.
- Replace door lock sets. If you rent, this may not be an option, but if you own, do it. How many of the neighbors have been given a key so that they could let in a serviceman, or some other emergency purpose? Point is: you don't know, so replacing them will give you some much-needed peace of mind.
- Look through garage/storage areas for things you'd just as soon be rid of. When we moved into our house, we found a bottle of "Methyl Hydrate Poison" and a bottle of Chloroform. Who knows what's lurking in your new digs?
- Replace furnace filter. You may not get around to doing it again for another 6 months, you may as well start your stay with some fresh, clean air.
While this list is by no means comprehensive, I've got to get back to my homework. I'll continue to add to this list as I think of new items and as time allows.
