I’m moving to Africa, I say.  And I set my jaw.  You’re moving where?

Whenever I have this conversation with family or friends, I develop headaches.  What’s so strange?  It’s a land of incredibly ancient and wonderful things.  The struggles to survive and the extremes to which one strives to do so, these things appeal to me.
In relocating to such a completely foreign country, by myself, I had to take every precaution that I would be safe, informed, and could adjust as quickly as possible, allowing myself time to consider what I would do once I got there.  Write?  Work in an office?  Drive a cab in a city?  Sell goats in a village?  The possibilities were endless, as were the pitfalls.

Since my friend in Gambia had offered to rent me a room, housing was taken care of.  The problem of transportation was a different matter.  Take my minivan to Gambia?  I decided to let my fingers do the walking and – lo – I found an international auto shipping company that was up to that particular task.

Information was vague, prices were high, and it was possible that a few palms were going to have to be greased.  I just kept thinking about exotic wildlife and spicy new seasonings in people and food; that got me through.

These international auto shippers were exactly what I needed in such a situation.  They knew, to the penny, how much things were probably going to cost.  They could tell me what to do to my vehicle to get it ready for moving (thank heavens my steering column is on the left).  And they promised that, since I had a permanent residential address in Gambia and could pay the fees and taxes, they could get hold of the necessary Letter of Authority and Permit for Import that I would need – sometimes no small feat, from what I gathered.

These guys certainly had their work cut out for them.  All I had to do was to wait for my flight to leave, and spiff my car up to meet customs standards.  I had to study for a driving exam, to make sure that I could pass a test there.  The international auto shipping company, on the other hand, was up to their ears in bureaucracies and bullies.  They were used to this, my rep said, and simply knew how to say “Please” in every known language.

So, on my departure from the international auto shipping company’s dock I saw my car, aimed at Africa, and I sent a silent Godspeed toward it and wished it a safe journey, wondering what I would find on the other side, in a few weeks.

My car was delivered in style, driven by a guy whose cologne has left its permanent musky scent on my seat – thankfully not an unpleasant aroma.  The final words to me from the rep at the international auto shippers’ office rang in my head.
Have a safe journey “home.”

International Moving

While I did not pay over $100 for my cell phone, a lot of other people have paid hundreds for theirs and have ended up dropping them in the toilet, the bath tub, the kitchen sink, or even the river or a number of other bodies of water large enough for a phone to be submerged in.  There are a lot of places you can get your cell phone wet, but what you probably might not realize is that your cell phone’s warranty does not cover water damage.  Manufacturers are even beginning to install these stickers on the insides of the phone in not one, but at least two different places so that if your phone gets wet, you cannot tell the repair technician that it did not.  The technician will know if your phone is water damaged simply by the fact that the sticker on the inside of your phone has changed color. 

This might be a great thing for manufacturers having to deal with a lot of returns by consumers dropping their phones in the pool and claiming the phone was never wet, but unfortunately for honest consumers, these stickers are so sensitive that they often trip when the humidity is just too high wherever you might be.  There is a powdered dye underneath the sticker and when moisture builds up inside the phone, the sticker and dye both get wet and the dye disperses on the sticker, changing it.  One of these is typically located on the battery compartment, but another (usually more difficult to access) is located on the circuit board of the phone.

So, how do you get around this?  Well, if you want to make both stickers ineffective, you will have to break into your phone quite skillfully, but it can be done.  The first sticker is not difficult to reach.  Take a piece of scotch tape with a satin finish and cover the sticker with it.  If your phone suddenly stops working for no apparent reason, remove the tape and take it back to the manufacturer.  I doubt this will help you much if you drop your phone in the bath tub, because it is not likely that a piece of scotch tape will keep the sticker from getting wet, but it will help protect it from moisture due to high humidity.  As for the location of the other sticker, you will probably have a hard time getting to it because it is located on your circuit board.

New Haven Basement Flooded 

Mold is a serious problems not only in homes, but also in the places where we work.  Employers and landlords should take special care to make sure their properties are not infested with mold and they should do this not only because the value of their property will decrease as the infestation spreads, but also because anyone working or living in the property will suffer adverse health effects.  

All kinds of medical conditions can be attributed to mold:  development of asthma, bleeding in the lungs, chronic dandruff, colds, coughing incessantly, fatique, skin rashes, and more.  If you notice any more than a few of your employees exhibiting these and other health complications, you should take a look around your property and see if you can detect any mold growing on your own.  If you can’t, talk to your employees, especially new hires, and ask them if they had these problems before they started working for you.  If the answer is “no”, you might have a hidden mold problem on your hands and it could be time to call in a professional.

If the mold inspector does indeed find mold, it’s time to inform your employees that remediation is going to begin and what measures are going to be taken.  Telling your workers that mold exists where they work is a recommendation of the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and you should follow it. 

Inform your employees when the remediation will begin and approximately when it will begin.  Any employees that exhibit any health complications that could have been caused by exposure to mold should be advised to go to their doctor and be referred to someone who knows about mold health consequences and treatments that can be done to encourage recovery.

After the remediation is completed, the property must pass a test proving that it is safe for people to return to work.  Don’t try to cut corners here; the sooner you get the mold problem fixed, the sooner you can allow your workers to return and resume production. 

If someone develops a medical condition because of the mold you allow to grow on your property (meaning you were notified that it existed and did nothing), you could be liable for more than just their medical bills, but it’s up to them to prove that you knew about the problem.  Your best bet to make sure you don’t suffer legal consequences for the mold growth in your workplace is to have it removed as soon as you discover it. 

Seattle Flood Damage Cleanup

Marriage, birth, and death certificates are only a few of the hundreds of different important documents and items that we have in our homes that can become damaged by flood waters or other kinds of leaks and most of us don’t know how to safely deal with these items once the damage is already done.

The first thing that you should know is that there isn’t any reason to panic, unless you’ve been away from your home for more than two days. It takes two days for mold to begin to grow on these items, so one of the first things that you should do is make the environment unfriendly to mold. Keep the house around 65 degrees Fahrenheit if you can and reduce the humidity. If there is any standing water still in the house, remove it as quickly as possible. Be careful, however, of any electrical hazards that might still exist and make sure the electricity to the house is off before you go rushing into any soaked areas. The possibility of electrocution is very real if the power isn’t off.

Air circulation in the house should be increased with fans if the air outside isn’t warmer or more humid than the air inside. If there are any emergency repairs that need to be made inside the house to ensure your safety, do them immediately.

The next thing you should do is figure out what documents in your home are going to need to be salvaged. This will include the documents listed above, marriage, birth, and death certificates, along with any insurance papers, divorce papers, and almost any other legal documents you have on hand. If the materials are not completely soaked in water, it’s possible to just air dry them and they will be fine. If they’ve been submerged for long, the best bet is to have them frozen and freeze-dried by a local facility.

Buy some freezer wrap from your local grocery store if they have it and use it to separate documents and books from each other when you pack them into boxes. Remove the most important items (i.e. legal documents, antique books of any value) first and if there are any less important items that you want to save (high school diplomas, anything that’s “one-of-a-kind”, books), remove those second. Don’t pack anything tightly in the freezer paper, just tight enough to keep the items from sticking to each other or to the inside of the box. Label each box with its contents and your contact information and have them transferred to the nearest freeze dry facility.

Article By: Flood Damage Cleanup

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