Babysitting?

MAKE SURE HONIE IS

BABYSITTING IS a great way to
€arn money. But with the job
comes responsibilities you may not
have thought about. This is a
good time to learn some fire and
burn safety rutes. The District of
North Vancouver Fire Department
offers this advice.

Find out in advance from the
Parents whether the home has

smoke detectors and whether the
family has made a home escape
plan for fires. If there are no
smoke detectors, bring one and
hang it over a door. If your fami-
ly has one, you can use one of the
detectors designed for travelling.
If not, an ordinary detector can
ve hung over a door with bent
coat hanger.

Before the parents leave, check
the exits. Be sure you know how
to lock and unlock doors and
windows. Get phone numbers of
the fire, ambulance and police
departments, poison control cen-
tre, family physician and where
the parents can be reached.

When the parents have gone,
plan your exit in case of fire. If
the children are of school age, in-
volve them in the job. They’ll

keep an important legacy from
your babysitting visit after you're
gone.

Be extra alert. Keep children
out of the kitchen. Uf you're cook-
ing, keep the children where you
can see them but not in the kitch-
en. Never hold a child while
you're carrying hot food or
drinks. A smafi child’s skin burns
more easily and more severely
than yours, and they're experts at
spilling. Keep matches, lighters
and other dangerous objects out
of their sight and reach.

if you are to bathe the chiid, be
sure to test the water before plac-
ing the child in the tub. Water
that feels hot to you will be too
hot for a small child’s delicate
skin. If the phone rings or you
need to leave the room for any
reason, bring the child with you.
It takes only a second for a child
to slip under the water or to turn
on scalding hot water.

If a child is burned, run cool
water over the skin. Cover the
burn with a clean cloth and call
for medical help immediately. If
clothing catches fire, make the
child lie down and roll him or her
back and forth to smother the
fire. Roll the child in a heavy coat
or blanket if one is handy. Cool
the burn with water but do not try
to remove any clothing that might
be stuck to the skin. Again, call
for medical help immediately.

If a fire starts, get yourself and
the children out at the first sound

‘Test drive’ lawn mower

From page 12
drive traction.

Side-discharge baggers are typi-
cally front-wheel drive and easier
to control. The operator must
simply tilt the wheels up to stop
and turn.

5) Will the mower beautifully
groom my yard? What you don’t
want is a mower that leaves tall
blades of uncut grass called
“stragglers’’ or forms a pattern of
lines on your yard. This is caused
by the mower cutting lower on
one side.

A test drive can steer you clear
of these models. If you are abie to
afrange a test drive, mow a six-
foot square (1.8 metre square) test
plot and eyeball the grass surface
from your hands and knees to
determine the quality of cut.

If the ability to pick up pine
needles, shreds of paper, and
sticks is important, select a model
with strong vacuuming power.
Some models are designed with
unimpeded air flow for superior
vacuuming power.

6) What cutting width do I
need? Consider first the layout
and size of your yard. If your
backyard is a maze of flower beds
and obstacles, you might want a
narrow width mower to make

manoeuvring easier. Mowers gen-
erally range in size from 18 to 21
inches (43 to 56 cm) with the 21
inch the standard for many
homeowners.

7) What about my safety? A
variety of options are availabie
that will protect the operator
while the mower is in operation.
Some models have a special brake
designed to quickly stop the blade
and the engine each time the han-
dle is released.

A “blade brake clutch’’ is also
available. The clutch stops the
blade while leaving the engine
running. It saves you from having
to restart the mower many times
during the mowing task, but ex-
pect to pay extra for the feature.

Your mower should also have a
trailing shield at the rear of the
mower deck to prevent rocks and
other debris from being thrown.

8) Which bagging option should
I choose? Two types are available,
rear-baggers and a side-discharge
mower with a bagging attachment.
Rear-baggers allow close, easy
trimming with either side of the
mower. Because the clippings
don’t need to “turn a corner’
from a side chute into the bag as
they do on a side-discharge bag-
ger, they don’t clog as easily.

VINYL SIDING SPECIALIST

pE SUMMER SALE 2

WE WILL BEAT ANY SEARS SIDING
QUOTES BY UP TO 25%

ADDITIONS & SOLARIUMS ALSO AVAILABLE

WE USE ONLY QUALITY

SIDING

WITH LIFETIME WARRANTY

BUILTRIGHT HOMES INC.
JIM JORGENSON 657-5909

FIRE SAFE

of the smoke detector, Don't wait
to investigate. Crawl with the
child to the nearest exit — it's
important to siay low because in a
fire poison gases hang in the up-
per part of a room. Get out as
quickly as you can and go to a
neighbor to call the fire depart-
ment. Report the complete address
and tell them whether everyone is
safely out of the house.

“INTESFORM

Europe’s Finest
‘urnishings

110-7771 Alderbridge Way
Richmond, BL. V6X 2A4 Y
Tel: (604) 276-9876

duly 20, 1990 - Narth Shore News

Speciahzing in chipping
& snredaing for the home gardener

Let uS turn your garden een

refuse into soil conditioning
compost & mulch

ee
772 or 922-9772 St @

947-

az
au)

o

UNDER A
ROLL OUT DECK
OR PATIO AWNING
*OVER 100 COLOURS
70 CHOOSE FROM
*QUALITY RETRACTABLE
ALUMINUM FRAMES

for a

* when you buy a sofa at
our everyday low price
well give you a matching
loveseat. Free.

Furnitureland’s regular
priced sofé.s and loveseats
are a good deal anyday
but this summer were
making it even better.

Redo your living room or
your den — or make use
of the extra savings and
do both. A large selection

SOFA & LOVESEAT

Mm Aubrey Schneider
d FURNITURE EXPERT

of styles and fabrics will
make it easy to select a set
for every room in your
house.

Sofas and loveseats are
not the only thing you'll
find in Furnitureland’s 4

large showrooms. , —--

Drop by
today and
see for
yourself.
Our
selection

_ sell forless.

of fine furnishings and
mattresses, our excellent
service and competitive
prices will speak for
themselves ‘cause at
Furnitureland it's not
how much you save
but how little you pay.

Pewesimply. . 699

DELIVERY, SET-UP AND
PICK-UP OF OLD FURNITURE

= FURNITURELAND

711 E.3rd ST., NORTH VANCOUVER 986-1361