How Smart is Smartphone Insurance?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy flickr

Whether you're a Millennial or a Baby Boomer, one thing is certain; You never leave home without your smartphone.  Part communication device, part entertainment center, part research assistant, a smartphone puts the world at your fingertips.  You can read a book, watch a TV show or a movie, order a pizza or a taxi and converse with your friends and family six ways from Sunday wherever and whenever you choose.  If it did the dishes and the laundry, you’d probably marry it, right?  That’s why you can’t afford to be without your little oblong friend.  While the model I carry retails for around $100, this is considered the low end of the smartphone pool.  Springing for a Samsung Galaxy S10 will set you back $700, while an iPhone can cost more than a grand.  With prices like those, it should come as no surprise that I’m asked about smartphone insurance from time to time by my customers.  To keep from repeating myself, I created a handy blog that will gives you the ins and outs you need to consider before deciding to buying an extended warranty or insurance for your phone.

These Tow Truck Tricks are No Treat

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy flickr

Picture this: You’re out driving along a lonely stretch of highway late at night when your Check Engine light comes on.  A minute later, your car engine dies and you coast to the curb.  Popping on the flashers and opening the hood, you get out to see if you can determine what caused your car to stall.  Only the problem isn’t evident.  The serpentine belt is still firmly attached and there isn’t a hint of smoke or any fluid leaking from under the vehicle.  Just as you head back to call for a tow truck, one appears from out of nowhere.  Seeing you standing there, the tow truck driver winds down his window and asks you if you need some help.  What would you do?

Driving with Dogs

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy flickr

Being a dog owner, I’ve grown used to taking them practically everywhere with me.  My staff has long been used to seeing them at the office every day.  I wouldn’t think of putting them in a kennel when I go on vacation, either.  For the most part, where I go they go.  If you’re like me and treat your dogs like members of your extended family, this blog will give you a few pointers to making your life and theirs easier when you travel together.

Where's the Fire?

By Catherine Powell

Image courtesy PxHere

While cavemen both revered and feared it, fire is a tool that has literally taken mankind to the Moon and back. It also makes modern conveniences such as the internal combustion engine possible.  Where would our world be without it?  The problem with fire is that it’s a two-edged sword.  While it empowers our society, it can just as easily damage or destroy great swaths of it in no time at all.  To put the matter into perspective, I decided to put this week’s blog to the test, as well as the torch, to explore the many facets of fire.