Several weeks back I was going thru the Viriginia Highlands suburb of Atlanta and passed by the old firehouse on Highland Avenue. This is a beautiful building built in 1924 and it is still used today to house the brave firefighters and equipment that proudly serves that area. As I drove by I thought the building certainly would have had some rats and or squirrels over the years and maybe even a current infestation of some kind. I went back to the firehouse, intorduced myself and ask, “Can I fix your facility”? As it happened, they did have a family of gray squirrels living in the attic and they were also much appreciative of my help in solving their problem. I did a complete and thorough inspection, formulated a plan of attack and did my initial setup for the squirrels. I also repaired numerous openings in the gutter line and eave soffet area, leaving one main opening for the squirrels to utilize. After catching all of the squirrrels, I secured the last opening, thereby preventing the animals from continuing to use the attic as a harborage area. My assistant ask how much money I would write off for doing this work, my answer was none. Sometimes we just have to pay it forward. I am very glad to help people who are always putting their lives on the line to save other peoples lives, they are the HEROS. This firehouse is an awesome part of history which needs to retrofitted and modernized to better help the people who help us. They have caps, t-shirts, patches for sale, they do a lot of local pr work, they are always ready for any emergency, stop by and look at the firetruck built in 1926, what a beauty this one is. Make a donation to their building fund, it is tax deductible and a great way to give back a little something. Engine Company 19, I salute you.

After being in the business of getting animals ouf of homes for 25 years, I sometimes think I  have seen everything when it comes to rats and squirrels entering homes,,,, but I haven’t. I am currently working on a very large home on a golf course community and it has rats. Rats do not know who you are or how much money you have. Rats are rats, they are creatures of habit, always seeking  food, water, and shelter. Food and water is abundant everywhere for the animals, so I focus on the repairs of the structure in an effort to fix the problem. Doing a bandaid approach and fixing one opening will not stop animal infestations in the future. When animals invade a structure, the solution will always be in complete and thorough repairs. This particular home is spectactular, it is very well decorated, and could on the cover of many magazines, but it still had rats. The homeowners did not do anything to attract the animals but they still showed up. This home had openings on it that were big enough for the rats to crawl right in, they did not have to gnaw on wood to make an opening. they simply found a weak link in the construction and took advantage of it. These type openings are built into the home during construction, original or addon, it doesn’t matter. Anytime a contractor is doing something to your home on the exterior shell, there is a very very good chance they are going to fix your problem, but there is also a very very good chance they will leave openings that allow animals to enter. Most of there openings are going to be in out of the way places the homeowner will not seen, but the rats and squirrels will certainly find them.  The long term solution to keeping rats out of structures will always be in the repairs. When shopping for someone like me, make sure they have a city or county business license and liablity insurance. Over the past sevral years many people have attempted to do what I do and now, there is a lot in incompatancy in the market. Some of these new people will take your money and run. they will not return phone calls because they are thieves and had no intention of completing the work. Ask for references, check them out, call the Better Business Bureau, contact the governing agency that issues the license and permits in your state. I wish you well in your search for a professional who will correct your problem, warrant their work and give you piece of mind that your home has been repaired and is safe for your family.

I have a 2 year old Pontiac Solstice which only gets dirty from being in the rain. Not long ago, I took it to an auto detail shop locally for a wash, vacum the inside, clean the windows, wipe down the dash and upholstry, a $25.oo special. Well, from a distant it looked good so I drove home, a few friends were there and we were looking at the job,,,,, not so good on a closer look, it wasn’t a bad job but more attention to detail could have benn done.  I called the shop, one of the owners apologized and said the next wash is free. That was okay with me because as a business owner we can not always be 100% in control of what our employees do and I felt this was a good business decision. I had already scheduled with the shop to completely detail my company truck, a 10 year old Silverado with bells and whisltes. It has been mechanically maintained by a professional mechanic its entire life, but the inside wasn’t treated as nice. Me and my helpers have spilled sodas, dropped food, been wet and muddy, etc.. I inquired about my truck coming back to me the same way as the car only at a price of $275.oo. I was assured that was not going to happen and that my truck would look excellent when the job was done. Well, it did. I knew the outside would look better after a wash and wax, but I did not know the inside would come as clean as it did. Both inside and out, this truck looks as if it just came off the show room floor, an excellent job was done by Sam. I am glad to do business with this company and would highly recommend them for all of your car wash blues. AutoWorld is located at 2018 Scenic Hwy (124), Snellville, Ga. 770-972-4030, this is the intersection with Dogwood. Brothers, Mark and Jeff, own the shop, call them, you will be glad you did and let them know you read my blog, thank you.

For many years I had Progressive Insurance on my company truck and thought I was getting good rates but did not look farther for more competitives prices. Last summer I bought a new car, met with the agent for Progressive to get prices and set up a policy for that car. As I was setting at the desk looking at the computer screen with her, a very interesting thing happened. I told her to add the car to the exsisting policy and inquired about a policy discount. When she pulled up the  info, Progressive was not on the screen, I was told these were the best rates and I was being lead to another company with what I thought was some high prices. I demanded she go beyond that and go directly to Progressive which she did,,, at that point she acted both dumb and dumbfouned, like “Oh, here it is”. Well, these prices with Progressive were $288.oo less, each 6 month policy period,,,, $576.oo less for the year. Because I was going to get the car in another 10 minutes, I paid for the Progressive policy but knew I was going to shop around,,,, both this agent and Progressive was going to lose my business. Two months later when my truck policy was ready for renewal, I contacted the company who had my homeowners policy, with their various discounts, I doubled the limits of coverage and saved substantily by doing so. When the new car policy came due, both the agent and Progressive lost my business, probably for ever. The new company now has all of my insurance, saves me money, and has a better rating than the old company. I highly recommend insurance bundling with one company, but first do your homework, find the people you like working with, the company that works best for you, and take charge your stuff.

A few months ago I went to one of my favorite diners for a late lunch around 3pm on a weekday. As I entered the restaurant I noticed what appeared to be a Dad with 3 kids, a boy about 10, a girl about 8 and a girl about 5. My first thought was to go somewhere else since I did not want to eat around some noisy kids, but I sat at a booth, ordered my lunch, and begin to read. After a few moments I looked up and everything was still quite, I looked at the family,  they were talking, laughing and having a fun time while being as quite as any other respectful person would be. Time passed, my lunch was served, I ate the entire meal in that same quiteness, several times I looked at the family,,,,, they continued to talk, laugh and have a great time while being very quite, respectful and extremely well disciplined. I was so impressed, I will repeat that, I was so impressed with this experience that as I was going to the cashier I stopped at the table and said to the Dad that I wanted to talk to him about his children. He immediately replied, Have we done something to disrupt your lunch? Of course I said No, just the opposite, I was impressed with how quite the diner was and thanked him. The Dad said they have a standing rule that says for any and all unsolicited positive comments these kids get from strangers because of them being well mannered and disciplined kids, the parents put additional $10.oo in the vacation kitty and the kids get to chose how to spend that money on the summer vacation. The kids had already accomplished that for the second time that day = $20.00. The $10.00 in my hand for  my lunch, I gave to the Dad and said, Now they have $30.00. The kids all thanked me on their own without parental input, this was awesome. I paid the cashier, was walking thru the door and the boy said, Hey Mister, I turned to look and all 3 kids gave me the double thumbs up. I smiled and knew I was in the middle of something very special. I know a lot of parents have good intentions but sometimes kids can get carried away. I thought about this  for a few days and came to the conclusion that my time would be better suited looking for the roses and not the thorns. It also reminded me of how quick we are to pre-judge people, places, and things.  As parents you may try something like this, the prize could be a dollar or 5 dollars,,,, but the real prize is the advantages the well mannered and dsiciplined kids will have over those that aren’t. I wish you well in your parenting.

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