Do a Home Inventory

It's a good idea to have a inventory of all the contents of your home in case of theft, fire or other damage. Here's a free service from the Insurance Information Institute that makes it easy to document your belongings.

http://ezasset.appspot.com

Homeowners and the New MA Oil Law Requirement

Effective July 1, 2010, Chapter 453 of the Acts of 2008 affects homeowners in 2 ways:

• Homeowners must make sure that their oil tank - above or underground - conforms to the new code requirement. There is no grandfathering.
• If the homeowner's oil system does conform, the insurance company must make coverage for loss due to an oil spill available to him or her.

The law states that: An owner of residential property utilizing a heating oil tank for consumptive use on the premises with 1 or more fuel supply lines or return lines in direct contact with conrete, earth or other floor surfaces shall:

1. enclose any fuel supply line with a continuous non-metallic sleeve,
2. cause an oil safety valve to be installed at the tank end of any fuel supply line in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions or
3. employ any other approved release prevention method.

There are exemptions and other details about this law that you should know. Contact your insurance agent for more information.

RMV announces Low Number Plate Lottery

The Registry of Motor of Vehicles has announced the 2010 Low Number Plate Lottery. This year there are 179 plates available for the low plate lottery including the following types:
Number only — three digits (e.g. 268)
Number only — four digits (e.g. 2062)
Two Numbers and One Letter (e.g. 19K)
One Letter and Two Numbers (e.g. B29)

To be eligible, applicants MUST mail the entry form to the Registry of Motor Vehicles • Attn: Lottery Plates • P.O. Box 55889 • Boston, MA • 02205 -5889. The submission must be postmarked no later than August 9, 2010.

Lottery Rules and Eligibility Requirements
Only one (1) entry per applicant will be accepted, regardless of the number of active registrations he/she may have.

An applicant must be a Massachusetts resident. An applicant must have a currently registered and insured passenger vehicle.

Companies/Corporations may not apply.

RMV employees, including contract employees, and their immediate family members are not eligible. (Black’s Law Dictionary defines “immediate family member” as the term generally referring to one’s parents, spouse, children, and brothers & sisters.)

Entry forms must be legible and printed in ink. The form must not have any missing information. Incomplete or illegible forms will be rejected. It may be helpful to have your registration in front of you when completing this entry form. Your accuracy will reduce the risk of your entry form being rejected. *Fields marked with an (*) are optional.

Requests for specific plate numbers will not be honored. Eligible applicants will be considered for all plates listed. Plates will be awarded in the order in which they are listed on the “2010 Plate List.”

An applicant’s registration and license cannot be in a non-renewal, suspended, or revoked status at the time of entry, the time of the drawing, or the time of the plate swap. As such, an applicant must not have any outstanding excise taxes, parking tickets, child support, warrants, or unpaid Fastlane violations.

Entry forms must be mailed and postmarked no later than August 9, 2010. Hand-delivered entry forms will not be accepted.

By law, lottery winners must be announced by September 15, 2010. Please visit our website (www.mass.gov/rmv) later in the summer for the official drawing date.
Lottery results will be available on the RMV website: www.mass.gov/rmv
All winners will be notified by the RMV in writing with instructions on how to transfer their current registration to their new lottery plate. Winners will have until December 31, 2010 to swap his/her plate by phone or at the Special Plate Section at RMV Headquarters. Unclaimed plates will be forfeited after December 31st. Plates will be registered to the winning applicant onlyAll plates remain the property of the RMV even after registration.

Lottery winners will be announced at a live drawing on August 28, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at The Larz Anderson Auto Museum located at 15 Newton Street in Brookline. Lottery results will also be posted on the RMV website.

Add One Hour To The Day.

Add one hour to the day. Set the alarm one hour earlier.

“Early to bed, early to rise…” is not just a nursery rhyme truism. Because there are never enough hours in the day, it is a real bonus to find an extra one. It is sitting there for the taking each and every day. The discipline to take advantage of that hour (or two) is not an easy one to master.

When Joan Lunden did ABC Good Morning America for 14 years, her driver would pick her up each morning at 4:30 a.m. ( and he had to leave at 3:30 in order to drive to Westchester to get her). He observed that he seldom dropped her off before 6:00 p.m. at night. And all that just for a morning show!

There is, of course, no free lunch. The price you pay for an extra hour or two each morning comes due each evening when you must plan your activities accordingly. The candle cannot be burned at both ends.

Once you get control of extra a.m. hours, use them wisely—not for busy work. One successful sales professional called all of her key contacts for the day and left a voice mail message saying that she had some important information for them and she would outline what it was, with a promise to call them back later in the day. The pre-opening message would be the first thing her clients would hear when they came to work. Not a bad way to start all of your accounts’ days.
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From my buddy Jack Falvey at: http://www.makingthenumbers.com/ off big time

Is Your Boat Safe?

Boating Season has arrived and here are some steps to take to reduce fatalities, injuries, property damage and liability costs:

• Be sure your boat is adequately insured
• All recreational boats are required to carry one approved Personal Flotation Device for each person aboard
• All vessels must be equipped with US Coast Guard (USCG) approved visual distress signals
• USCG approved fire extinguishers are required and should be hand portable, either B-I or B-II classification, and have a specific marine type mounting bracket. It must be marked "Marine Type USCG."
• Take a boating safety course.
• Get a free Vessel Safety Check (VSC) - a free annual check available to all boaters to ensure that their recreational vessels meet Federal and State equipment requirements. The USCG Auxiliary and US Power Squadrons vessel examiners participate in the VSC Program.
• Additional safety equipment to consider: Marine radio, dewatering device and backup, anchor and line for area, and first aid and person-in-water kits.

Keep Your Driver's License With You

Did you know that if you are stopped in the state of Massachusetts and don't have your driver's license with you (even though you have a valid license), you can be fined $50? That a steep price to pay!!!