Frying your Turkey?

The Holiday season is upon us, and most families are putting together a large Holiday spread for the family.  The last thing you want is to spoil this Holiday season with a kitchen fire.  According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the amount of kitchen fires during the Holiday season triples, especially on Thanksgiving!

There have been several videos showing turkey frying being a very dangerous method of cooking the Holiday bird.  There are higher risks due to hot oil spills, scalding, injury and fire.  You may want to consider a commercial source if you like deep fried turkey.  

Other tips from the Fire Department

1. Units can easily tip over, spilling hot cooking oil over a large area.
2. An overfilled cooking pot or partially frozen turkey will cause cooking oil to spill when the turkey is inserted.
3. A small amount of cooking oil coming into contact with the burner can cause a large fire.
4. Without thermostat controls, deep fryers have the potential to overheat the oil to the point of combustion.
5. The sides of the cooking pot, lid and pot handles can get dangerously hot, creating severe burn hazards.
6. Fryers should always be used outdoors, on a solid level surface a safe distance from buildings and flammable materials.
7. Never use a fryer on a wooden deck, under a patio cover, in a garage or enclosed space.
8. Do not overfill the fryer.
9. Never leave the fryer unattended because, without thermostat controls, the oil will continue to heat until it catches fire.
10. Never let children or pets near the fryer when in use or after use as the oil can remain hot for hours.
11. Use well-insulated potholders or oven mitts and wear long sleeves and safety goggles to protect from splatter.
12. Make sure the turkey is completely thawed before it is placed in a fryer.
13. Keep all-purpose fire extinguishers nearby.
14. If a turkey fryer fire occurs, call 911 immediately.

Manual transmission problems?

Here is another transmission trouble sign that haunts manual transmission vehicle owners: the dreaded  dragging clutch. A dragging clutch is one that fails to disengage the clutch disk from the flywheel when the driver pushes in the clutch pedal.

When the driver attempts to shift gears, he or she can't because the still-engaged clutch is still spinning along with the engine. The driver is abruptly made aware of this by the grinding noise that then ensues with each attempt to shift.

Fortunately, the most common cause for this problem is not that severe or costly to fix -- at least not compared to some other transmission issues. More often than not, the problem is too much slack in the clutch pedal. With too much free play, the cable or linkage between the pedal and the clutch disk doesn't have enough leverage to disengage the clutch disk from the flywheel (or pressure plate).

Driving in the Fog

The season is upon us where areas that are prone to fog will soon be covered in a blanket of white clouds. It can be challenging.  Driving in fog, blowing dust, or even smoke should always be done with the headlights on LOW beam.  You might think that the power of your high beams will help you see better but the reverse effect will occur. Use low beams. 

You should double the following distance you would normally maintain with the vehicle in front of you.  If you can follow safely, follow the tail lamps of the car in front of you but maintain enough distance that if they should hit there brakes, you have plenty of time to react to avoid a accident. 

Another thing that you can do is to turn your emergency flashers on if you are worried about someone rear ending you. Use the right side striped lines as a guide but don't allow your right front wheels to touch or cross it.  Sometimes people become so panicked that they pull off on the shoulder but not completely out of traffic.  Expect this and be ready to react. Keep your window cracked so that you can hear a collision occurring around you.

So its icy out

When walking on ice, it is very important not to walk too quickly and to wear shoes with good traction. Many experts also suggest that people can avoid injury by taking short mincing steps instead of long strides that carry too much weight. Point your feet slightly outward. Watching the ground while walking on ice can help you avoid particularly dangerous areas, and that can be crucial to preventing a fall. Another important consideration is to avoid walking on ice in frozen lakes because of the danger of breaking through the ice and drowning or suffering hypothermia.

Walking carefully and mindfully is a lot of help when walking on ice, and good shoes can give you a little bit of an edge. Shoes with a lot of traction on the bottom can sometimes help you avoid falls, especially if that ice is covered in snow that the shoes can dig into. Some shoes can help in the same way that snow tires help when driving. Ice is sometimes so slippery that good shoes aren't enough, but a small improvement is generally better than nothing.

Hills are especially treacherous when walking on ice, and it is generally better to avoid them if you can. When you are forced to walk up a hill, look for a way to do it that doesn't require you to actually move up a slant. For example, stair steps would generally be much better than some kind of steep incline.