An Islander version of Life Hacks for the Winter

Have you ever gotten stuck outside your car and tried to unlock your door in the cold?

When I was on my way out of work one day, I noticed a man outside trying to unlock his car with his car key. He was upset because his car key was not working right. I walked over because he had a folder with papers that happened to fly away while he was trying to open his car door. I helped pick up the papers and asked him if he was okay. My coworker Clint was also leaving work and I asked him for advice and he said the locks on his car door were frozen so we need to de-ice it.

I immediately ran to my car and grabbed my can of deicer. I used it a few times on my windows but have not thought about using it on a car lock before. After spraying the deicer on the man’s car lock, it did not work instantaneously as expected so I advised him to try to reach his car insurance place for another solution. At this point, it was getting colder to about 20 degrees that evening.

Clint grabbed the key and tried again. This time the car door was unlocked and the man was so thankful. Clint and I advised him to buy a can of deicer and keep it in his car for emergency purposes. I am a girl scout at heart so I was always prepared for things like this. Thankfully everything was resolved and the man was able to drive off safely.

Just to get to my point, here are some life hacks for the winter season from an islander (myself):

1. Keep a can of de-icer spray in your car at all times.
   You can buy it here or in other stores like Walmart or Home Depot.
   If you cannot go outside to these stores, you can also make it yourself by following these tips.

2. Be dressed for the weather
   a. Wear the appropriate coat, hat and scarf for the day.
   b. Keep extra gloves in your coat and in your car.
   Some examples can be found here.

3. Keep your snow brush with you if you get snowed in at work, at home or elsewhere so you can dust your car off when you have to leave.

4. Keep a shovel in your car in case you are surrounded by snow. You can shovel your car out anywhere.

5. After parking your car, lift up your windshield wipers so you can easily clean off your windshield and deice your wipers. You can also use a pair of socks to keep the windshield wipers ice free like here:
   
   Image source

6. Shovel after you cleaned your car off because you will be shoveling twice if you do not wait.

I hope these tips help you this winter. It has definitely helped me and I am thankful for all the experience I’ve had since I moved to Massachusetts. As an islander, I was not as prepared as I should be when I moved to a place where there are four seasons instead of one.

Stay tuned for more life hacks next week. Thank you for stopping by. Stay warm this winter and be safe everyone.

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