We enjoyed the lower prices of gas over the winter, and now as we watch them shoot up again, you can’t help but be at least a little frustrated.  I want to help you save money on gas, so I did a little digging and found some tips. These are my 3 favorites:

1. Keep your car in good shape.  Keeping up with regular maintenance like oil and fluid changes as well as keeping your tires well inflated will help you get better gas mileage.  Better gas mileage=filling less often=saving money

2.Declutter your car.  While you can’t unload the weight of your kids from the back, you can get rid of those extra lawn chairs you never use or that bag of mulch you haven’t gotten around to putting in back garden.

3. Don’t overuse the A/C.  Just like at home, it’s not always necessary to run the Air Conditioner non-stop.  Once the cars reached a comfortable spot, flip to just the fan to keep the air circulating.  Running the A/C uses extra gas.  Or if it’s not too warm, join the Mike club and just drive with the windows down and radio up.

Posted: June 25th, 2009 under Helping Others, Saving Money, Show Notes.
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If there’s one thing that gets old really fast in the summers of Iowa, it’s a hot car.  It’s not fun to head home and have to crawl in a car that feels twice as hot as it is outside.  So engineers are working on a fix for that problem.  They’ve invented some glass that will get rid of 12 degrees of heat than would normally be transferred.  And that new glass is going to be installed in new cars starting in 2012. Which is great if you want to get a car then.  Until then, I’m going to have to stick to rolling the windows down, putting the visor in the windshield and then sweating it out with no A/C on the way home.

Posted: June 24th, 2009 under Crazy Stuff, Show Notes.
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Code Red in Black Hawk County, an emergency notification system, goes live on July 1.  If you’re signed up, the system will call you when severe weather is headed your way based on your address.  You can sign up here.

Posted: June 24th, 2009 under Helpful Info, Show Notes.
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Though my wife is a stay at home mom and I go to work every day, I’ll admit that she probably has a way harder job than I do.  The only problem is, I tend to be the more forgetful one.  Does it ever seem like that at your house?  Between work and home, dads can have a hard time keeping it all straight.  If the dad in your life is like that, one man built a website to help.  It’s called Organize My Dad. Dad can put together schedules for what he needs to get done, help the kids with, and help you with and then have items emailed or texted to his phone.  Maybe now he’ll remember to pick up the kids from school and that your anniversary is coming up.

Posted: June 23rd, 2009 under Cool Websites, Show Notes.
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Unlike a regular cough, which is no fun, whooping cough is super no-fun and dangerous to boot.  Currently there are 11 reported cases in Buchanan County, and it is pretty contagious.  You’ll want to make sure you follow the usual rules to stay healthy: get lots of sleep, eat healthy, and wash your hands.  If you’d like more information on whooping cough, visit this link. If you’re concerned you might have whooping cough, visit your doctor.

Posted: June 23rd, 2009 under Health News, Local News, Show Notes.
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