Not Your Mom’s Chlorine Bleach

A published in Carolina Country, May 2013

From patios to laundry to teeth, oxygen bleach cleans naturally and safely

If you’re familiar with hydrogen peroxide, that liquid you keep in your medicine cabinet to clean cuts, you’ve heard of oxygen bleach.

While I’ve used chlorine bleach for years for disinfecting and removing stains, I’m now learning that oxygen bleach can accomplish many more tasks in a gentler, safer, and in a more environmentally friendly way.

“Oxygen bleach is not chlorine-based at all,” says Bruce Vance, owner of Town and Country Services, a commercial cleaning company in Chapel Hill, and an instructor at the Institute for Service Excellence in Charleston, S.C. He often uses and recommends oxygen bleach because it’s the best combination of stain and odor removal available without harsh chemicals.

There are at least three types of oxygen bleach, Vance says: hydrogen peroxide, sodium percarbonate, and sodium perborate. In each case they release free oxygen that reacts to bind to organic molecules and break them apart.

That’s why as a laundry additive, oxygen bleach does a good job on grease, grass stains and food. While chlorine bleach will remove the color from a garment and eventually weaken fabric, oxygen bleach is color and fabric safe and has actually has been used in commercial laundries for years as a de-staining additive.

As a multi-purpose cleaner, it can be used to clean and deodorize kitchen and bathroom surfaces, eliminating the need for many different cleaning products.

“Oxygen bleach does a good job taking the gray out of untreated wooden decks and for whitening grout,” says Vance. “It’s also good for removing algae and mildew from wood and vinyl siding. It’s excellent for removing pet stains and urine odors.”

And of course, swishing a capful of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide in your mouth can help cure mouth sores and whiten teeth. It’s a common ingredient in whitening toothpaste.

Made from natural ingredients, hydrogen peroxide has no odor and leaves no residue except water. The granulated types of oxygen bleach may leave a small amount of powder residue that requires thorough rinsing, especially on carpets. Unlike chlorine, it can more safely be mixed or used with other household cleaners, and is not harmful to children, pets and plants.

I tried oxygen bleach on my deck, but I wasn’t too thrilled with the results. In fact, there was no visible difference at all.

“Almost no one is following labeling directions anymore,” says Vance.

One of my mistakes was not using hot water to dissolve the granular powder. Vance stresses that following the label instructions is vital for choosing the right type of bleach in the right concentration for your job and handling the product safely for the best outcome.

Since oxygen bleach is an oxidizer, you should not use it on materials that can be damaged by oxidation. For example, rust is the oxidation of iron. Vance recommends that if you are unsure, test in an inconspicuous area to make sure the product is right for that surface.

My second mistake was trying to use the pressure sprayer I generally use for spreading herbicide.

“Just remember that when oxygen bleach is mixed with water, it begins to react and generate oxygen,” explains Vance. Apparently, if I had mixed the solution properly, my sprayer could have exploded. For outside use, Vance recommends using a mop or handled brush to apply the solution and rinsing with a garden hose. Cleaning preparations using sodium percarbonate work well with a surfactant (detergent) to increase penetration.

The granular form of oxygen bleach, sodium percarbonate for cleaning decks and siding, is available at hardware stores and home centers as well as online at very reasonable prices. Products for laundry and household cleaning are available at grocery and variety stores.

Now that I know more about oxygen bleach, I’m going to try again. I can barely wait to see the results of this versatile and natural cleaner.

Pris Mauney, Business Pioneer

As published in Foothills Spotlight, Apr/May 2013

 
Her passion for hard work and tackling new projects has always been a successful strategy for Pris Mauney, a pioneer in business in Lincolnton.

A Lincoln County native and the third child in a house of seven, she says she got her business sense from her mother. “Two words I never heard at home were vacation and retire.”

Pris followed her Navy husband to Maryland during WWII and worked in an aircraft factory. “There were only women and 4-Fs to do the work,” she says, “so they hired me because I told them I was an experienced welder. I put my mistakes in my pocket so the supervisors wouldn’t know the truth.”

When Pris and her husband returned to Lincoln County in the 1950s, she saw a pressing need for elder care. So with only $7500 and a desire, she built and opened Mauney Retirement Home, the first of its kind in the area.

“There were people telling me I shouldn’t do it,” says Pris. “I had no experience, but was determined to make it work. I created a home-like atmosphere for my residents, took them to their hair appointments, played cards with them, and celebrated birthdays. They loved to string the beans my husband grew in the garden.” In seven years she only had one week of vacation, and in the beginning did all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry while raising her two young sons. “My boys had 15 grandmothers,” she says, “and they were an inspiration.”

When Lincoln County opened its first county hospital in 1969, the vacant Reeves Gamble Hospital building on Main Street went up for sale. Pris was on her way to the post office when the auctioneer called her over and asked her to start the bidding.

“I made a low bid and nobody else said a word,” she recalls. “With an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach, I realized I’d just purchased a hospital.”

After 18 years in operation, Pris sold the rest home and converted Gamble Hospital into the Mauney Building with office and living space, adding a restaurant next door. She then decided she might as well get her realtor’s license, becoming one of the first female realtors in the area.

Among other projects has been opening the first exercise salon in Lincolnton in 1968 with her sister-in-law, Pauline. It was so successful that they paid for all the equipment the first week. She revived Lincolnton’s dilapidated depot, and built the first townhouses in the city.

“Everyone in town knows Pris,” says Ken Kindley, president of the Lincolnton – Lincolnton Country Chamber of Commerce. “I’ve never met a sharper businesswoman.”

Pris was a charter member and one of the first presidents of Lincolnton’s Business and Professional Women’s Club, named Business Woman of the Year in 1965. Over the years, her energy and hard work have contributed to just about every community board in Lincolnton, and as a leader or member of “more committees than I can remember.”

It’s not all about business. She has long been active in her church, serving on district-level committees for both United Methodist Women and Methodist Church. Pris recently stepped away from 19 years of delivering Meals on Wheels, and she makes special time for family, cooking Sunday dinner for her boys and their wives and children for the past 22 years.

“I’ve always wanted to tackle new things,” says Pris. “Life has always been a challenge and an adventure. I don’t think my life would have been as full without all I’ve tried and done. I have truly been blessed.”

Daphne Ingram, Master Life Juggler

A published in Foothills Spotlight, April/May 2013

 
Daphne Ingram juggles a lot of balls. She holds a full-time job, is mother to eight, assists her husband, Johnny, at his personal training business, and finds time to volunteer at church and in the community. She’ll be the first one to tell you that she doesn’t always know how she does it.

Daphne is an administrative support specialist for Lincolnton’s mayor, city manager, and city clerk, but work doesn’t end at five.

“My husband and I first began fostering children when our only biological child was in the second or third grade,” says Daphne. A few of the children went back to their families and to other foster families, but soon a brother and sister came to them and, when it was clear they were there to stay, she and Johnny promptly adopted them. They were followed by two more sets of siblings, and during this time they also took custody of a five-year-old with severe cerebral palsy, now 18 and graduating from high school in May.

“There was a time when five school buses stopped at our driveway,” she says. Today her children are spread between Lincoln Charter School, Lincolnton High School, and Gaston College.

“I’ve always felt like fostering was something I was called to do,” says Daphne. “If someone called today and asked if we could take another child, I would say, “Bring it on.”

A full-time job, eight children, and now a grandchild sounds like enough, but Daphne recently returned from Columbia, SC, where she is seeking certification to teach group exercise classes at her husband’s gym, Trinity Fitness.

Members of El Shaddai Church in Iron Station, a neighborhood in eastern Lincoln County, Daphne finds time to sing in the choir and work with the young marriage ministry. She has also been asked to help with the young girls’ ministry. In the summer,she assists Johnny, who is also a minister, with his summer ministry Heartbeat Outreach, to residents in public housing, providing them with a free meal and sharing the love of Christ through song and the Word of God.

She volunteers whenever she can, visiting shut-ins and nursing home residents. She and her husband also took a shift at the 2011 Extreme Home Makeover build in Lincolnton. At the Charter School she has helped by proctoring tests and participating in fundraisers.

“Fortunately I have a lot of help,” says Daphne. Her husband’s mother lives with them, and her own mother lives beside them. “Jonathan, my oldest son, and Chasity, the oldest girl still in the household, as well as my mother, chip in by taking the younger children to basketball and soccer practice and their games when she has a conflict. Everyone, she says, is happy, healthy, and active.

“When you have five loads of laundry waiting for you, it feels overwhelming at times. You just get up in the morning, kick it in gear, and move. There are some days things don’t get done, but at the end of the day I try to make sure that the most important things get done.”

“The main reason I can do what I do is because I put God first,” says Daphne. “My relationship with the Lord keeps me going. Second is family.

“Material things are not going to last, but the time you spend in your relationship with God and knowing that what you do has mattered will last and carry you through.”

PowerPointers for More Effective Presentations

As published on Small Business Opportunities Magazine website, April 8, 2013

More often than not, I’ve stared at a screen while a presenter reads to me. It’s frustrating, and almost insulting. Presentations like these are neither provocative nor persuasive, and before the fourth slide, your audience will be checking their phones for messages, watching the clock, and wondering what’s for lunch.

PowerPoint is certainly is a wonderful improvement over slides and transparencies, but if used poorly, it can be both terrible and ineffective.

Presenters who use PowerPoint to make their point are the ones who keep the following tips in mind:

• Your PowerPoint is not the presentation – you are. Your slides should support your talking points, not the other way around.
• Keep it simple. Too many words on the page, too much animation, and too many fancy graphics create a distraction. Make sure your slide is easy to read and your graphics are simple.
• Import your own graphics rather than using the PowerPoint graphics. If appropriate, use a humorous slide to give your audience a break.
• Too many numbers are blinding. A spreadsheet of facts and figures on a page will surely make your audience’s eyes glaze over.
• Your slides are an outline tool to support your point. Don’t insult your audience by reading each slide.
• Time your remarks to give your audience an opportunity to read the screen before you begin your comments. Leave the slide up long enough for them to absorb the information.
• Plan ahead. Practice before you present and learn how to operate the remote before you hit the stage.
• A blank screen or a simple graphic without data can turn the attention back to you. Use a plain screen when you want to make a serious point.
• Distribute any handouts after your presentation. You don’t want your audience to skip to the conclusion before you begin.
• Streamline your message. Edit your presentation with a heavy hand several times and remove any information that doesn’t add to your final conclusion.

About Carole Howell:

Carole Howell is an independent writer and editor with 30 years of corporate experience. Visit her website at http://www.walkerbranchwrites.com.

(c) 2013 Carole Howell

Blackberry Winter, THEN Spring

Published in the Lincoln Herald, April 2, 2013

My aunt, Mary Rhyne, relied on the sun and moon signs to tell her when to plant, a worn copy of Blum’s Almanac always by the phone. She also tracked foggy mornings in August to declare the number of snowy days we would have in the coming Winter. I’m not sure of either of these.

But as sure as I know that Spring will eventually come to stay, I know that it will only tease us until the dogwoods have bloomed.

It sounds like I’m a pessimist, and I’m not trying to be the bearer of bad tidings. But the simple truth of nature is that we cannot count on the really warm days of Spring until both “blackberry winter” and “dogwood winter” have passed.

In the South, the old-timers know that when the blackberries bloom on the side of the road, there will be a cold snap. Hopefully it won’t be bad enough to send the peach and apple blossoms into retreat. It’s the same when the dogwoods begin to bloom – another spell of cold weather before we can confidently pull out the flip-flops.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve already been to the garden center and gawked over the enormous array of flower and vegetable seeds. I’ve ooohed and aaahed over the variety of sunflowers and zinnias, and scoped out the amazing display of vegetable seeds. I know exactly where I’m going to put the rows.

But I’ll put the brakes on for now. I could convince myself that my little seedlings would survive the snap, beating the odds against stubborn jet streams and low pressure systems. Experience has taught me differently. I’m sure that they’ll be better off if I wait. After all, what’s the rush?

Be still, Spring urges, for just a little while longer. Just as nature delivers those inevitable chilly days, it will soon deliver the sun, and with it my optimism.

Drive Responsibly and Avoid the Fines

As published in Carolina Country, April 2013

Keeping NC Roads Safe is the Goal of the Highway Patrol

With more than 78,000 miles of North Carolina highways, you may think that the odds are pretty good that you will escape the attention of a highway patrolman.

But now you’re sitting by the side of the interstate, blue lights flashing behind you. Staring straight ahead, you feel the eyes of your fellow motorists, passing by with a mixture of sympathy and relief that this time they have passed under the radar.

Chances are good that you were speeding. In 2012, the NCSHP issued citations for nearly 350,000 speeding violations, followed in number by registration and seatbelt violations.

“Once you’ve been stopped for one offense, it’s possible to receive a verbal or written warning, and even be fined for additional violations depending on the type and severity of the offense,” says First Sergeant Jeff Gordon of the NC Department of Public Safety, North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

First Sgt. Gordon recommends the following for your safety, avoiding penalties and court costs, keeping your record clean, and making sure your auto insurance premiums don’t increase.

Watch that speed

Every 17 minutes, someone is killed or injured in a speed-related accident on a NC highway . If you have a car with cruise control, use it. Don’t think that by keeping up with the flow of traffic you will not stand out for speeding.

Travel at a speed that is appropriate for conditions such as rain, snow and ice, wind, curves, ramps, roadway composition and construction zones. Going too fast through a work zone can result in fines as high as $250 and several points against your license.

Snap yourself safe

Always wear your seat belt and insist that your passengers buckle up. If you are unbelted during an accident, your airbag could hit your chest with the force of a baseball bat.

Children under the age of eight and weighing less than 80 pounds should be restrained in a properly used and installed child safety seat or booster. Explore http://www.BuckleUpNC.org for specific information and the location of car seat checking stations in your county.

Drive straight and sober

Remember that it doesn’t take a lot of alcohol to reach the legal limit of .08. Many people who are arrested for DWI often don’t feel impaired. When in doubt, simply don’t drive.

Being charged with driving while impaired is expensive. For a first offender who hires a lawyer for a trial, the cost can be at a minimum of $2,500. The fines alone can add up to $4,000.

Is your registration up to date?

Each year you receive a reminder to renew your registration. If you’ve moved, make sure that the state Department of Motor Vehicles has your current address so that there are no delays in receiving this important notification. To renew your registration, you must have completed a North Carolina safety inspection. Your registration expires at midnight on the last day of the month on your sticker. After the 15th of the next month, the fine is $25 plus court costs.

Check your ride before you hit the road

If you are stopped for an equipment violation, it’s possible that the patrolman has noticed a burned-out light or turn signal, unsafe tires, improper exhaust, or a cracked windshield. All of these equate to the possibility of causing a collision due to faulty equipment.

“Through enforcement and education, the NC Highway Patrol serves to provide safe and efficient transportation for all motorists traveling on North Carolina roadways,” says First Sergeant Gordon. “Our ultimate goal is to prevent injuries and deaths on North Carolina highways.”

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SIDEBAR:

Did you know?

North Carolina’s “Move Over Law” requires drivers on a four-lane road to move to the farthest lane when approaching any emergency vehicle with its lights flashing. In October 2012, the law was expanded to include any roadside utility or maintenance crews. Violators face a mandatory fine of $250 and court costs.

It is illegal in North Carolina to have any part of your expiration date, numbers, or state name of your tag concealed by a tag frame or tinted cover. Violators face a $100 fine and court costs.

Drivers younger than 18 are prohibited from using a mobile telephone while driving except in the case of an emergency or when talking to a parent or spouse. Violators face a $25 fine.

In North Carolina, you are required to turn on your headlights in any conditions that could impair the ability to see clearly at a distance of 500 feet. This can include rain, snow, and even heavy smoke.

The “Fender-Bender Law” requires that drivers involved in minor accidents move their vehicles as far to the shoulder of the road as possible, and as quickly as safely possible. Violators face a $110 fine and a possible $100 court fee. On top of that, you could cause a second accident when your damaged vehicle is left in the roadway.

By law, disabled vehicles left by the side of any road can be towed after 24 hours. You will pay a towing bill and a storage fee to retrieve your car.

Any Way You Slice it, Nothing Beats a NC Homegrown Tomato

As published in Carolina Country, March 2013

Some swear by round, red tomatoes while others prefer a less acidic yellow. Others will disagree and think heirlooms are the only ones worth slicing.

I prefer to grow the huge round reds of the Big Boy and Better Boy varieties simply because I’m not one to mess with a good thing. Practically speaking, one thick slice is all you need for a tomato sandwich.

Christopher Gunter, of the N.C. State University Department of Horticultural Science, knows a little bit about tomatoes. He has spent his career helping tomato farmers grow the most popular types for the commercial market.

“Just about any kind of tomato will grow well in North Carolina,” says Gunter. “While North Carolina’s soil differs greatly from the coast to the mountains, it’s possible to be successful if you know a little bit about tomatoes and what they need to grow.”

His advice for the backyard tomato gardener is to start by preparing the soil.

“Tomatoes love the sun, so prepare your beds in full light,” says Gunter. He suggests laying in 2 or 3 inches of commercial or homemade compost in the fall or spring before planting. The compost should be worked into the top 6 to 9 inches of soil. This is especially important for the soil of the sandier east coast region of North Carolina and the clay of the Piedmont.

If you’re wondering exactly what nutrients your soil lacks, you can purchase a soil sample test kit at your county’s Cooperative Extension office and follow the simple directions.

Which types are best for NC?

“Choosing which of the many varieties of tomatoes you plant depends on your tastes and how you plan to use them,” says Gunter. “Don’t be afraid to experiment with several types to find one that appeals to your taste buds.”

Better Boy, Whopper, Celebrity, and Mountain Pride are proven good performers for slicing and canning while cherry tomatoes of many types add color to salads or enjoyment by the handful.

Better Boy, Whopper, and Celebrity are resistant to some of the most common tomato diseases. After all the work and anticipation, you don’t want your precious fruit to wilt on the vine. Avoid blossom end rot by working in calcium or a fertilizer with calcium additive, available at your garden or variety store.

Gunter says it really doesn’t matter if you start inside with seeds or purchase your plants. Choose plants that have healthy green leaves with no hint of disease. Plant tomatoes 1½ to 2 feet apart with 3 or 4 feet between rows. Stake or cage your plants shortly after planting. Strips of old panty hose make excellent tomato ties.

Once your tomatoes have started to bear fruit, sidedress your tomatoes 4–6 inches from the plant stem with 2 or 3 teaspoons of 8-8-8 or 10-10-10 fertilizer.

Whatever type you choose, make sure to grow plenty for yourself and for sharing. Almost everyone loves a fresh, homegrown tomato.

For me, a thick, bright red slice on white bread (only white) with Duke’s mayonnaise (the only kind) and lots of salt and pepper, is a good start toward a second sandwich.