Photo by DeWitt Clinton

Apartments differ from family homes because in apartment buildings you share essential spaces with the other tenants in the building. You do not have complete control over your surroundings in an apartment. On the plus side, you do not bear sole responsibility for the entire premises. In a city apartment building, many people have an interest in keeping the common areas, such as lobbies and laundry rooms safe.
Protecting yourself while living in an apartment in the city should be an element of your daily routine. The steps you take to address your safety concerns are most effective when you do not let them interfere with the things you need and want to do while living in the city. The most important thing to remember is that there is no one-time fix to resolve all of your safety issues. Your safety depends on you staying alert, practicing common sense, like keeping fire extinguishers etc. and taking responsibility for the condition of your environment.

Know Your Surroundings

Look around and take note of the people and things close to your apartment. Your goal is to be able to know when something is out of place. If something is out of place, it may indicate you are in danger. As an example, if there is a utility closet in your building that you pass on the way to your apartment; take note of whether the door is usually closed and locked. An unattended storage room or utility closet gives criminals a place to hide.

Know Your Neighbours

Know the people who should be in your area so that you will be able to identify quickly those who should not be near you. You do not have to form deep friendships with your neighbours but you should be able to identify them by face. Ideally, you should exchange emergency contact information with a neighbour next door or across the hallway. If something happens to you, they can contact someone on your behalf. If something happens to your apartment while you are out, a neighbour will be able to reach you so that you can take action.

Lock Your Doors

Change the locks on your front door, if your lease allows. Hire a licensed locksmith to install the locks. Select the best quality lock that you can afford. Lock your door, even if you only expect that you will be away for only a few minutes, such as when you take out the garbage or go to the mailbox to pick up your mail. If you install a slam lock, you will know that the door is locked, even if you are in a rush or if your mind is elsewhere. Keep your door locked while you are in your apartment.

In the common areas, do your part to keep yourself as well as your neighbors safe. Do not prop open security doors while you carry packages in from your car. Anyone can slip into the building undetected in the moments when you are away from the door. Do not hold doors open for people you do not recognize. It is prudent, not rude, to require all visitors and residents to follow established security procedures. If your apartment complex has an open structure, without a central security door, stay alert to recognize if a stranger is behaving suspiciously.

Take this short quiz and enter to win a $50 gift card from Amazon.com. I’m sure any of us could use a little extra holiday spending cash. This is your chance to earn some.

• All of the entries with the most correct answers will be entered to win.
• Among the entrants with the most correct answers, the winner will be drawn randomly.
• As usual, in the interest of fairness, those of you who share a mailing address, DNA, or W2 form are forbidden to enter. Former co-workers are welcome to ente the giveaway.
• The winner will be notified via email. If there is no response within 3 days, another winner will be chosen. The same due process will follow until the prize is awarded.
• The contest will conclude at 11:59:59pm on December 16th, 2011. This is a short one. This will allow enough time to deliver the card, do your holiday shopping with it, or have a gift already picked out for someone. With Channukah starting on December 20th, my Jewish readers will have enough time to pick out gifts for the latter part of the celebration of lights.

Take the quiz for your chance to win! Your name and email are required. I promise you won’t be spammed by me.

State Farm Holiday Safety Quiz

Every $1 spent at Kroger earns you 1 fuel point and every 100 points earns a $0.10 per gallon discount at Kroger Fuel or participating Shell stations. You earn double fuel points when you purchase gift cards at Kroger. The selection of gift cards available is extensive. You can buy gift cards for major retail outlets and restaurants. If I am planning to make a purchase at one of those retail outlets, I will buy a gift card in a denomination closest to what I will need to spend at that particular store.

• I buy a $15 Starbucks gift card for myself once a month. I figure that’s a reasonable amount of money to spend at Starbucks in one month. That’s 30 fuel points that I would not have earned if I just forked my cash over to the green mermaid.
• A friend helped me move last month, so I treated him to lunch at Ruby Tuesday. I picked up a $25 gift card and earned 50 fuel points.
• I went to Home Depot to buy plastic sheeting and staples for my staple gun to mitigate the energy-leeching effects of drafty single-pane glass windows in my apartment. Buying a $25 gift card prior to shopping at Home Depot earned another 50 fuel points.
• Panera Bread has some excellent vegan-friendly items, none of which is a plain baked potato and side salad. $25 is a reasonable amount to spend there over the course of two months. 50 more fuel points.
• Do you shop on Amazon.com? Amazon gift cards are available at Kroger too.

September is Live Insurance Awareness Month. September is almost over. Where did the time go? Just because Life Insurance Awareness Month is about to pass, it doesn’t mean we can stop thinking about it.

As a single man, I never gave a second thought to life insurance. Who would benefit from it? I wanted every penny of my paycheck that I was entitled to so I could spend it on fun things. Living in an epicenter of scam artistry raised insurance premiums all around. I had contentious sentiments toward the insurance industry. I only wanted the minimum to stay in the good  graces of the law.

All that changed after Twilli was born. I know how important it is, but I dragged my feet (and other body parts). I wondered where I would find the money in my already tight budget for a life insurance premium.

How to Buy Life Insurance

Life Insurance and the Stay-At-Home Parent

Where to Go For More Information

Last night’s triple overtime thriller of a game meant a late night. My friend Greg was able to fly up to Detroit and get a couple tickets to the game. It would’ve been cool to see the RedWings win it all. Greg is a RedWings fan, and I would’ve loved for him to see his team win the Cup. I’m a little fried today between a late night and an early morning meeting with a client. I’m going to make this quick.

JustDaddys.net is a new forum for dads. Jason, the site administrator extended me a personal invitation to join. It’s still in the early stages, but this is where it can be fun. As an early adopter, you have a chance to shape the tone and feel of the forums.

The user base is growing every day. Jason already has tons of great discussion forums already in place. Everything is covered – you can get advice on dealing with an unruly teen or how to calm a colicky baby. Not only is this a place for dads to be dads, but it’s a place for dads to be men. There are discussion forums about plenty of guy things, like sports, cars, and gaming. It’s not a total sausage fest. Moms are welcome too.

When you sign up, please be sure to put “Elliott” (spell it with two T’s please) as the user who referred you. I’ll be totally transparent here. Jason is running a contest and awarding a prize to the top referrer of new users. Don’t let me have all the fun. Spread the word and you’ll get a chance to win too.

If you want to get in on the fun, here are the rules:
1. All referrals must sign up with the site by 11:59PM July 3rd 2008 to be considered a complete referral.
2. All referrals must have a minimum of ten (10) posts before July 13th 2008 to be considered a complete referral.
3. Both Referrer and Referral need to PM me the below items in order to be considered a complete referral.
a. Referrals PM me the name of the Referrer
b. Referrers PM me the name of the Referral
4. For each referral that is completed correctly the referrer will earn a chance to win the prize.
5. Prize will be a $30 dollar gift certificate to the store of your choice (limited to what is in my area to purchase, PM me with requests)
6. Decision of winners and prizes is completely up to me and names will be drawn from a hat randomly at the conclusion of the contest.

Please visit JustDaddys.net and take a look around. You’ll be glad you did.

Subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Subscribe in a reader

Subscribe to 21st Century Dad by Email

Last week, I went to 3 events I found through Meetup.com:

• South Florida Graphic Design/Creative Meetup
• South Florida Web Design Meetup
• Babies, Toddlers, and Little People Meetup

So far, meetup.com is 3 for 3. I met some great folks in my industry at the design meetups. I was especially looking forward to the Babies, Toddlers and Little People meetup. Renee was at one of their meetups earlier this year.

The organizer of this particular meetup is Jordanna Egan. She runs a licensed home day care center here in South Florida. She uses the group to promote her business and foster a sense of community. Renee and I felt an immediate kinship with her. Her two children are named Austin and Erianna.

Renee and I continue to get better networked locally. One segment of our circle of friends is an older bunch without children. That was the group we spent most of our social time with until the baby was born. They are a wonderful bunch, but we were hungry for circumstantial peers – other local folks our age with children. Meetup.com is proving to be a great way to fill that need.

If you haven’t checked out meetup.com, it’s worth a look. This concludes my wholehearted, sincere, unpaid, and unsolicited endorsement of meetup.com.

Subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Subscribe in a reader

Subscribe to 21st Century Dad by Email

Are you one of those people who likes shiny, brand new things? Get over it! You’re about to have a baby. Some outfits are worn only once or twice as babies grow so rapidly. Clothes still look fresh enough even after a couple hand-me-down cycles. Maternity clothing only gets a couple months of wear as moms expand into the next size up.

Friends and Family

Once you share the joyous news, anyone with available hand-me-downs will speak up. The easy way out would be to just donate the items, but most people would rather offer their help someone they know. Our friend Barb has a daughter a year older than Twilli. She gave us an entire suitcase full of very cute and stylish clothing.

Thrift Stores

You can’t blog about bargains without mentioning thrift stores. Just about everything you’d need except diapers, wipes, and formula is available here. If the expectant grandparents are around, bring them along. The Goodwill chain of thrift stores here offer discounts to senior citizens. On a recent trip to the thrift store, we found an outfit identical to one Twilli had as a newborn, except this one is her current size.

Freesource and Freecycle

I’ve used Freesource and The Freecycle Network to de-clutter my house. When we learned the joyous news, we knew we had to work the groups for free baby stuff.

In large metropolitan areas, there are several groups that you can join within reasonable distance. Baby items are abundant, offered almost daily. You might also score some items that aren’t posted to the boards when you pick up the item you claimed. We got most of the clothes, bedding, blankets, a bath basin, a bassinet, and some toys.

Craigslist

We got our crib for $40 and changing table for $35. The lady who sold us the changing table also threw in a bunch of other goodies she had lying around. Children grow out of things. They are fickle creatures. Many nearly-new toys and items are sold here too.

The Baby Shower and Gift Registry

I’m not saying you should mooch off your friends and family, but creating a baby registry is a great way to obtain some of the items you will need. Your friends and family are genuinely happy for you and they want the opportunity to express their joy. They don’t want to play a guessing game. Ask and ye shall receive. Sometimes, a group will pool together to get you a big-ticket item, but this is not the time to be greedy. Some retailers offer you a discount if you buy items on your registry that your friends and family did not pick out.

Twilli’s mom and I were overwhelmed at the show of support at our baby shower. We’re socially outgoing and we were able to leverage the relationship equity that we spent years building up. Traditionally, this is a women-only affair, but we elected to have a co-ed baby shower to be more inclusive of all our friends. The friends who could not make it to the big bash and our out-of-town friends also came through. We got to know our UPS driver very well.

We couldn’t have pulled it off ourselves. Our dear friend Shantelle is a party and event planner. Part of her gift to us was to provide her services. Now she has built up a successful business organizing tea parties for young girls. You better believe that in a few years, Twilli will be having a tea party.

Take What You Can Get… You’ll Need It.

The arrival of a child is an exciting time. It’s easy to get carried away and fall into the trap of consumerism. You want the very best for your child, but the very best also means that you, as parents, are financially responsible parents too.

When you announce that you are expecting your first child, everyone you meet, especially people who already have children, become very supportive. You’ll need all the help you can get. Accept it graciously. It takes a village.

Subscribe in a reader

Subscribe to 21st Century Dad by Email

Renee originally posted this early last month. She’s added several new locations to the map since then. Keep your eyes peeled and shout out in the comments below if you find more!

I highlighted a few of our favorite bloggers over at ReneeAndElliott.com. Some of our friends are a little slow getting on board with Web 2.0. This list here is parent-centric. Long-time readers may recognize that some of these are recent additions to the Blogroll.

Parent Hacks – Asha Dornfest

Parent Hacks. I hack my kids. Do you? You should too. Asha has really built a sense of community on her site. She’s got plenty of great hacks of her own to share and readers are encouraged to submit their own hacks. It’s a daily read for me.

Metro Dad – Poppycock from a Cocky Pop

MetroDad is brutally honest and forthright. He doesn’t post daily, but when he does, it’s always entertaining. If you’re offended by the occasional (or frequent) F-bombs, then proceed with caution. I get a little sneak preview of what my little one might be like 3 years from now. I hope he doesn’t mind that I’ve branded him as “The F-Bomb Dad.”

Thingamababy

Thingamababy makes me feel good when I read it. AJ, the writer, takes the high road with product reviews. He doesn’t take kickbacks from affiliate programs and writes extensively on products that he really uses. Occasionally, he’ll highlight cool things he’s seen online, but the true value comes from the real-life use perspective. Hooray for investing in some graphic design for the blog header.

Shooting The Kids

Amy and Chris Frazier bring us Shooting The Kids. They have great tips and tricks for everyone, regardless of what camera you own. This is a topic I just started covering myself. There’s room for both of us in the blogosphere but my kid is cuter. Amy is a fellow Nikon DSLR shooter. Yay!

Rice Daddies and Kimchi Mamas

The Rice Daddies (and the Kimchi Mamas) are helping me reconnect with my Asian heritage. When the Korean population in my house increased by 0.5 people, I took notice. The Little One will want to know about where she came from. The whitewash is starting to wear off a little.

Baby Cheapskate

Being a parent means you’re watching your finances more closely. Baby Cheapskate is a one-stop shop for finding amazing bargains, coupons and deals.

Daddy Types

Can’t mention the Yin of Baby Cheapskate without the Yang of DaddyTypes. DT is like the Gizmodo of parenting. I had no idea you could spend $6000 on a crib.

Renee over at 21st Century Parenting put together this wonderful map with a little help from Google. It was something I had planned on implementing, but why duplicate the efforts? Renee decided that she couldn’t simply copy someone else’s idea. Her map is annotated even further.

“Dad 2.0″ is here to stay. We do everything but breastfeed. Despite this, I suspect the ladies’ room changing table gets more use and abuse than the ones in the men’s room. The men’s room changing table may be in better shape germ-wise.

The lack of a changing table is highlighted even further by the family-friendly image an establishment tries portray. If a business wants to be family-friendly, then make it family-friendly. Cheap food and a kid’s menu aren’t the only qualifications here. A changing table goes a long way. Bravo if the men’s room is so equipped. Thoughtful placement of the changing table goes even further. You win even more points with me if you have family-friendly policies for your employees.

Stop by 21st Century Parenting and leave a comment. Let us know how your favorite hangouts fare.

If this information is useful to you, please make a donation.