JUST BOUGHT A NEW HOUSE?
Don’t Forget to Change the Locks
One of the most exciting purchases anyone will make is a new home. Ideally, it will be a space where you can create new memories for you and your family for years to come. While our homes provide us with shelter, play host to fun activities and parties, and house our possessions, we also want them to provide us with security. If you want your new home to be safe and secure, you should consider getting the locks rekeyed or changed out. When you receive the keys to your new home, there’s no way to know how many copies have been made. The previous owners could have made keys for extended family, babysitters, and so many others. If you don’t change out your locks upon move-in, anybody who has a key will have access to your house. If you’re purchasing a new house, you should schedule an appointment to have the locks changed in advance. This way, the locksmith can prepare new locks and cut new keys at the shop, which is more cost-efficient and timely, rather than trying to make them onsite.
You may also think you need to get the locks changed the day you move in, but it might be better to wait an extra day. The first day you move in can be incredibly stressful: You may still be closing out the deal, moving in your furniture, or dealing with a number of other issues that could arise. Having a locksmith work on your house during that time might add to the stress. Moving back your appointment to one day after you move in will make it easier for you and the locksmith. It’s not just new homeowners who should look at getting locks changed out or rekeyed. If you’ve lived in your house for a number of years, you should also consider it. You might not remember to whom you’ve given keys or how many. In the long run, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
The First Thanksgiving: What Was on the Menu?
Every Thanksgiving, we gather with our families and friends and pig out. Turkey, cranberry sauce, and stuffing, oh my! But did the Pilgrims actually eat all the same foods we do today? When we sit down at the Thanksgiving table, we are blessed with mashed potatoes, candied yams, green bean casserole, turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. However, if we wanted to be historically accurate, we would need to change up that dinner spread a bit. Historians know of a few foods on the table that Pilgrims and Wampanoags shared at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Wildfowl, corn (in grain form for porridge), and venison were sure to be served at the first Thanksgiving. Wild turkey was also a common and abundant food source but wasn’t likely the main course as it is today. A few days before the first Thanksgiving, the colony’s governor put four men in charge of hunting for birds for the feast, and they very likely returned with some turkey.
However, as far as mashed potatoes are concerned, in the early 1600s, most Europeans and the Wampanoag had no idea what a potato was. They weren’t cultivated in North America until the 1700s. Likewise, cranberries were still very new to the Pilgrims, and they didn’t yet use them for food — instead, they used them to make dyes for fabrics! For dessert, pumpkin pie was not yet a thing either. Although the Pilgrims liked pumpkins, they didn’t have the butter and wheat flour needed to make pie crust. Instead, they hollowed out the pumpkins (just like Halloween!) and filled them with milk and honey to make a custard and then roasted them. Although our Thanksgiving meals have changed over the years, it still is a fantastic time to get together and celebrate. In the spirit of evolving traditions, don’t be afraid to innovate to add your own personal traditional twist to the holiday as well!
2 WWW.POPALOCKKY.COM
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