----___ -___+_- CENTURY 21 MILLER REAL ESTATE LTD. 845-91 80 0am. "I don 't think results can be measured by numbers or percentages. I believe the emphasis should be on customer satisfaction" JOHN DIMICHELE a. Sc BUY AND SELL WITH People who move away from our climate with its distinct seasons into year-round summer often summer otten complain they real- ly miss the warm, nostalgic winding down of fall and the invigoration that accompanies spring. One of the nicest things for me in the fall is the end to crass cut- enamore lawns? tine are Americans Time to take stock of your castle I can under- stand the affection the English have for them because their climate is such that grass is completely at home thrives Here we have to fight the heat and the drought of summer in order to net even a mild awn and those to grass cut- Why on earth North )nse from and SO of " I also enjoy the fall for its warm evenings that allow us time to make preparation for the onslaught that will come with winter. I appreciate the way firefighters have conditioned the public to asso- ciate Daylight Saving Time changeover with fire prevention campaigns and the ompliance most Around sensible homeown- ers accept in checking out their smoke detectors. When you get the reminder this year you should respond to a wam- ing I heard for the first time last week on David on 19avitl Stringer's excel- lent show on TV0 television. called alarm unit. Always use an alkaline bat- tery because they die a slow death that gives plenty of warning through the smoke detector. He explained the danger of using a rechargeable bat- tery in a smoke "Acme School of Stuff." Rechargeables die suddenly and you could quite easily miss the short mes- sage they give as they expire. I had never heard that warning before, but it makes a lot of sense. Fall is also the time to take stock of our own castle and decide what preparations should be made for colder, darker days and nights. We update the caulking and the weatherstripping to defeat those annoying draughts and we take note of such routine maintenance as tuckpointing (replacing the mor- tar that is being worn away between the chim- ney bricks). We also have to put aside summer things like lawn mowers, garden tools and furniture and house them inside. Before YOU When you put the mower to bed always drain all the gas out because in the spring the stale gas will not likely have enough volatility left' to start the motor. After the gas is drained, start it up to use up all the retire the lawn mower you may want to use it as a leaf mulcher (I described my own adapter a couple of weeks ago) to help those leaves decompose more quickly and to pro- vide a nice blanket for those hard working earth- worms. (See 'Clean' page 22) gas in the carbure- tor and drain the oil from the crankcase; it's a perfect time for an oil change. Remove the spark plug and clean up the points with a wire brush and check the zap. ,aP th