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My WordSeasonal ShiftSmart and simple ways to enrich your home living Winter 2010 $3.00

Dear Friends,

Patience is a virtue, or so I’ve heard. But have you ever won-dered how patient you really are?

Actually, in the odd news cat-egory, one group tried to measure patience. Reuters reported on an online poll trying to determine how long the average adult could tolerate standing in line.

According to the results, tem-pers start flaring, on average, at 10 minutes and 42 seconds. People over 55 lost patience three min-utes sooner than those who were younger. And those under 35 were more likely to take it out on the people around them.

The worst places to stand in line are supermarkets, post offices, and airport check-in and security gates, the survey says. You sure won’t get any disagreement from me on that.

None of us like to wait for service of any kind. I know that when you need us, you want us to

Why Wait?By Dennis Holland

Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits

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continued on page 4

• TheTwo-SecondRuleforSafeDriving• QuickFixCreatesBiggerProblems• AirQualityandYourChild’sEars

Have you ever considered how much the dust that’s gather-

ing in your home is costing you in energy bills?

When dust builds up on the regis-ters and vent covers in your home, for example, it becomes “insulation” that blocks the heat’s path into the room. The harder a heater has to work to keep your home warm, the more you pay in utility costs.

So, as you look ahead at winter heating bills, a thor-ough dusting with special attention to registers and vent covers is a good idea.

While you’re at it, is that furniture really where it needs to be? By rear-ranging a few pieces away from exterior walls and toward interior walls, you’ll feel less draft, stay warm-er and be more comfortable.

Get a little sunshine into the pic-ture too. Open the drapes and let the sun’s natural warmth heat your room at no extra cost. Then close them at night as insulators to keep warmth in.

These are just a few natural, free ways to help reduce your energy costs and increase your comfort.

Other small steps can also make a big difference. For example:

• Set your thermostat no higher than 68O. Better yet, install a programmable thermostat to set back the temperature while you’re away during the day, or when you’re asleep at night. A programmable thermostat can

save up to $180 every year in energy costs.

•Keep your heating system tuned-up to make sure it’s oper-

ating at its peak efficiency when

cold weather comes in strong.

You’ll want it evaluated for any dangerous carbon

monoxide leaks that may raise a

concern.

It’s no news that energy costs are a big expense for homeown-ers. And not surprisingly, heating and cooling account for more than half of this amount. If you’d like to learn more about conserving energy in your home, call or email dennisholland@4comfortmaxx.com to request our free report titled, “Winter Energy Savers”.

Time to Dust Off a Few Energy Savings Ideas

S & A ComfortMaxx’s Inside This Issue:

Your Quick Call Comfort Hotline:

888-884-MAXXwww.4comfortmaxx.com

HomeSense is

published for

friends of

Summer afternoon – Summer afternoon; to me those

have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~ Henry James

HomeWatch There were always those who

wanted to prey on the naíve and unsuspecting. But these days, more folks than ever have problems with their credit and would welcome a quick cure. Unfortunately, that’s just the time scam artists will step in and take advantage of.

If someone’s offering to fix your bad credit, be careful that it doesn’t cost you money you can’t spare and create a whole lot of trouble. According to the Federal Trade Commission, if you see a credit repair offer, here’s how to tell if the company behind it is up to no good:

• The company wants you to pay for credit repair services before they provide any services. Credit repair companies cannot require you to pay until they have completed the services they have promised.

• The company doesn’t tell you your rights and what you can do for yourself for free.

• The company recommends that you do not contact any of the three major national credit reporting companies directly.

• The company tells you they can get rid of most or all the negative credit information in your credit report, even if that information is accurate and current.

• The company suggests that you try to invent a “new” credit identity – and then, a new credit report – by applying

for an Employer Identification Number to use instead of your Social Security number.

• The company advises you to dispute all the information in your credit report, regardless of its accuracy or timeliness.

Remember, the government holds a very dim view of phrases like, “I didn’t know any better.” If someone’s giving you bad advice – especially if it’s illegal advice – you could find

yourself in legal hot water.

Request a Report for FreeMake a note: There are 3 nation-

wide reporting companies – Equi-fax, Experian, and TransUnion – and each one is required to provide you a free copy of your cred-it report once every 12 months, if you request it. To reach any one of them, start with the same contact information – a central website, annualcreditreport.com, and a central phone number, 1-877-322-8228. You can also print a form from ftc.gov/credit and mail it in.

“Quotable”

HomeWise

The Two-Second Rule for Safe Driving

One strategy for driving de-fensively is to maintain a

safe distance between your vehicle and the one ahead of you. The car length rule – keeping a distance of one car length for every 10 mph of speed – has long been a recom-mendation. How do you imagine and measure car lengths while traveling at a fast clip? That’s why many have found the “two-second rule” a practical alternative. Here’s how it works.

As the rear bumper of the car ahead of you passes a fixed struc-ture on the roadway – a billboard, mile marker, exit sign, etc. – count off two seconds. At the moment the two seconds elapse, the front of your car should begin passing the same structure. If you get there sooner, give yourself more space.

How do you count to two? While you’re measuring distance, you have to keep watch on the vehicle ahead of you and the road marker. You can use the memo-rable, “Only a fool breaks the two-second rule,” which times out at about two seconds.

Remember, too, the two-second rule is a “fair weather” rule. In bad weather, switch to the four-second rule.

Credit “Quick Fix” Creates Bigger Problems

“Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.”

— Pietro Aretino

Thereare3nationwide

reportingcompanies–

Equifax,Experian,

andTransUnion.

HomeSmartHealthWise

Did You Know?

Does the quality of air really matter? Even the least scien-

tific among us can imagine that bad air has a negative impact on breath-ing. Allergies and asthma issues will kick in when dust kicks up. But what about your ears?

Well, listen to this. According to the American Academy of Otolar-yngology, researchers actually have found a connection between ear infections and air quality.

Survey Says

They used data from health sur-veys of more than 120,000 children and measured how many times a child had three or more ear infec-tions over a 12-month period. They then cross-referenced these num-bers with air quality data from the Environmental Protection Agency during the same time period.

What they saw was that, as air quality improved, the number of frequent ear infections decreased.

Certainly, people have been drawing a connection between environmental improvements and overall health improvements in many ways and for a long time.

Smog has been a concern in major cities for years and was one of the targets of the Clean Air Act that led to air quality improvements. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, smog contains “ozone,” a pollutant that can be harmful.

Ozone Overdose?

You’ve probably heard of “The Ozone” as something that needs to be protected, and it is. Ozone is a colorless gas that forms in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, where it creates a protective layer against the sun’s rays. That’s “good ozone.” But closer to Earth, near ground level, ozone also is formed as pol-lutants from cars, industries, power plants and so forth emit pollutants that react to sunlight. That’s “bad ozone” and isn’t a good thing to breathe in.

Children are particularly vul-nerable to air quality issues for several reasons. They take in more air when they breathe. Their lungs aren’t yet fully developed. They’re more likely to spend time play-ing outside, and when active, they breathe faster and more deeply.

Air Quality and Your Child’s Ears – Is There a Connection?

• Google’s name is a play on the word googol, which refers to the number 1 followed by one hundred zeroes.

• Dogs and cats consume over $11 billion worth of pet food a year!

• Rice paper does not have any rice in it!

• The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

• More steel in the United States is used to make bottle caps than to manufacture automobile bodies.

• Pollen never deteriorates. It is one of the few natural substances that lasts indefinitely.

Encouraging Healthy Eating Habits

Childhood obesity is a serious health concern. The health

problems they may experience range from heart disease caused by high cholesterol or high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, asthma and sleep apnea. Warding off this serious health concern can begin as simply as making small im-provements in the diet.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that you:

� Provide plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole-grain products.

� Include low-fat or non-fat milk or dairy products.

� Choose lean meats, poultry, fish, lentils, and beans for protein.

� Serve reasonably-sized portions.

� Drink lots of water.

� Limit sugar-sweetened beverages.

� Limit consumption of sugar.

Also, although everything can be enjoyed in moderation, limit calorie-rich temptations of high-fat and high-sugar to occasional indulgences, replacing them in-stead with low-fat and low-sugar treats such as apple slices, a ba-nana or a cup of grapes.

HomeSenseget there right away. I want you to know that is my priority too. When you’ve got a problem, we’re here to serve, and we’ll get to you as quickly as we can.

It’s a fast-paced, multitasking world, and I knowyour time is important to you. So let me say “thank you” for slowing down enoughto read this bit of news for your home. I hope you’ll find the articles to be of interest.

Looking forward to seeing you again soon.

Dennis Holland

P.S. Please take one extra mo-ment to take a look at the offers in this newsletter. You can find some big savings that could make it worth your time. Or feel free to pass them along to your friends and neighbors. We’re glad to help them too.

My Word (...from page 1)

You can improve the efficiency of your home comfort system by up to 20% by sealing and

insulating ducts.

HomePoints

If your mailing address is not correct, please call us!

3815 Hwy 641 N.,

Camden, TN 38320

It’s an oddity of life today. Airtight, energy-efficient homes provide the security of keeping air in. But they also bring the risk of re-circulating bad air that contains allergens, pollut-ants and dangerous molds.

The air inside your home can actually be 12 times more pol-luted than the air outside. That means you could be shelling out money for air that’scausing breath-ing and respiratory problems for

your family – notto mention theresulting medicalbills and medicines.For an inspection of your indoor air quality and simple solutions to increase air caliber, call S & A ComfortMaxx at 888-884-MAXX.

P.S. The first 20 appointments are on us, no charge. So don’t wait – call now!

Are You Paying for Air that’s Making You Sick?

©2010

When it comes to regular maintenance of your heating and cooling system, you won’t find a better deal than our Comfort Club. Just look at these benefits:

• Twopre-seasontune-upsayear

• Energysavingsfromimprovedefficiency

• Betterindoorairquality

• Longerequipmentlife

• Discountsonrepairs,everytime

• Priorityserviceatnoextracharge,evenduringthebusiestseason

With discounts and energy savings, you’ll soon find that club membership can pay for itself – while keeping you comfortable year after year. Join today! Call S & A ComfortMaxx at 888-884-MAXX.

The Best Deal AroundYear in, Year Out

©2010