Using Landscape to Privatize Your Home
Thanks to Molly Bloom for the guest entry.
A few summers ago, I worked in Beverly Hills, California. I was a nanny to a very prestigious family and watched the kids everyday, after the parents went to work. When I first got this job, I remember being surprised by the large bushes surrounding the home. At first, I could not even find the right address to the home since it was tucked away so far behind large bushes. In this article, I recommend landscaping as strategy to build a home security alarm system within your own home.
Large bushes are a great way to protect your home, I have learned. They can securely tuck away your home so that no one can even see it. For high-profile people, large bushes can protect homes from people like the paparazzi. The family I worked for in Beverly Hills used large bushes to refrain the paparazzi from taking unnecessary pictures of their home. Along with that, they also had a fancy ADT Security system complete with video cameras and the whole nine yards.
While I am not famous, I have chosen to surround my own home with large bushes. I live on a busy freeway, and I simply enjoy the privacy that smart landscaping has brought to my home. I am glad that people driving by my home can not see an inch of my private space. Landscaping makes my own life feel more secure and my home feel safe.
There’s really no excuse anymore
I’m constantly amazed by how many people tell me that they don’t get Internet at their house. One of the reasons that they give for not having Internet is that they say that the only option for them is slow dial-up. I have to admit that dial-up is not as fast as satellite internet is, but if that was my only option I would certainly take it! The first several years that we had Internet at our place the only option was dial-up. I really didn’t mind how slow it was. At least until I saw how fast it could be through other methods!
We depend so much on the things that we use the Internet for in our modern lives that I’d have a really hard time imagining not having it as part of our daily life! I think we’d seriously have a withdrawal of sorts without it! We use the Internet for sending emails to keep in touch with friends and family. It is so much easier than trying to call them on the phone because our work and sleep schedules are so out-of-sync with each other it’s hard to reach each other! And we play games, watch shows, shop and do our banking online. It has certainly become a major player in our lives!
Invisible fences
I’ve always wondered about the logic behind the invisible fences in people’s yards. Every dog I’ve ever had I simply trained them to stay in the yard with the use of a leash and my pair of legs. You walk the dog around the edge of the property, using a training collar and leash and when you approach the property line you give the leash a tug and say “no.” You do that a few times and the dog learns to stay in the yard. I’ve never had any trouble at all – ever – with training dogs that way.
Seems to me that invisible fences are an expensive alternative to just spending a little time and effort one-on-one with the dog. If I didn’t have the time to train my dog, I don’t think I’d have one! And to be honest, I’d rather have a REAL fence to keep unwanted critters OUT of my yard than an invisible fence keeping my critters IN my yard! And I’ve known a few people who say that their dogs are so stubborn that they just run right through the invisible fence anyway. Just seems to me that my money is better used in some other way than on an invisible fence – at least for now!
A new way to move
It used to be when people moved, they either did it all themselves, or they hired a moving company to do it all. There was no middle ground. Now I’ve heard that there is a moving truck service that will bring their truck to you for you to pack and load, they do the driving, then you unload it. I think that’s a very good option if you have the manpower to do the loading!
Incentives to buying first home
For many people, buying first home jitters can be a real problem. There are so many good reasons to simply rent a place. In today’s unstable employment market, many people are afraid that they might lose their jobs and have to move to a different area to find employment. This is a very valid concern. Big companies are laying off employees right and left!
On the other hand, the housing market is in such a slump that bargains are to be had in just about every town and city you can even think of. Many of the bargains are due to foreclosures, which is very sad indeed. There is a glut in the marketplace, so that is forcing prices down, and if you have the money saved up to buy a house, this is a perfect time to do it. If you have good credit, you can get a mortgage for a song (almost) and then can join the ranks of homeowners. If, for some reason you end up having to move someplace, chances are good that you can rent out your home for a competitive price (because your mortgage is so low.)
Add to that the home buyer tax credit, and you’ve possibly crossed the financial finish line to owning your first home. Check it out – home ownership just might be closer than you think!
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