I was born in January 1978. During one of the worst blizzards in US history. According to Weather.com, the storm called the “Great Blizzard of 1978” hit the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes regions from January 26th through January 27th. About 20 people died from direct or indirect results of the storm. So with snow encroaching quickly over this coming weekend, no matter how bad it gets, you can always say “Hey, at least it’s not 1978!” And then you can just ignore the blank stares from those ignorant of your great knowledge!

Here are some tips from Bob Villa on how to prepare for winter:

• 1. Clear out those gutters!

  I know I have to do this quite a bit, but make sure you clean out those gutters no matter how awful it is to do. If you didn’t clean out the gutters ice can form and cause damage leading to rotting fascia boards below the roofline, cracks in the foundation or walkways, or leaks in the basement.

• 2. Reverse the fan blade direction

  They go the other way? Switch fans to spin clockwise to push warm air down toward you.

• 3. Winterize your wheels

  Living in Michigan, this is pretty common, but with costs on the rise, it can be missed. Snow tires are best when temperatures fall below 50 degrees.

• 4. Tweak the thermostat

  Lol, well who’s household is not constantly fighting to adjust the thermostat? According to Bob Villa, if you can get used to temperatures around 62 degrees to 66 degrees, you will save significantly on heating costs. Good luck on that Bob.

• 5. Know your limits

  Knowing this all too well as my father had a heart attack while shovelling snow, know your limits. Age creeps up fast and things we could do before become much harder and it’s okay to invest in things that make life easier like snow blowers or that annoying kid down the street that won’t stop asking you to shovel your driveway. Come on, he saving for art college, that’s not cheap!

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